Matlab as a quant language
How useful is Matlab as a quant language if it is the ONLY one you know?
A friend of mine who went quant 7 years ago said that you really need to know C++/C# or java these days to start adding value to the blocks of existing code at most jobs you'll run into.
An AM friend said it was fine: know Matlab, because plenty of FT implementers will convert that into sleek C routines anyways.
If I were to enter a recruiting situation today with only Matlab, how bad are my chances?
Matlab is not an object oriented language. For pure quant modeling, you need OO.
That being said, you can do other types of quant that only require Matlab/R/Excel. This would not be your typical FE role, though.
In fact, I landed a quant role with mostly a Matlab/R/Excel background. I do have a basic knowledge of OO languages, such as Java & C++, though. In my interview, I stressed that this understanding was purely fundamental, and that I was not a programmer.
Actually you can do Object Oriented programming in Matlab.
You can also use Excel as a statistical software package, but I wouldn't suggest it.
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There are roles that require Matlab/R and not Java/C++, and you should be stronger in another area (math/statistics) to make up for not knowing OOP since your contribution will be more analysis and less development.
By the way I'm a financial engineering student so this is just based off what I saw this summer at my internship and from my classmates.
I really wish that my university abandons Python as the program for all the first year computer science courses and replaces them with C++. At this point, it looks like a long-shot .
Woa woa woa, Why are you hating on Python? Its OO, can de everything Matlab can but in a faster and cleaner way, its portable, and unless you really need tremendous amounts of speed, where C beats C++ if you understand the architecture its running on, id use it over any other language.
Plus its easier to learn for newbies than C/C++ so it makes it a good language to learn the concepts and fundamentals of programming rather than confusing an entire class with syntax and compiler issues.
So i find your complaint to be without merit. Just take C++ later.
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