Am I wasting time learning Visual Basic?

H2O · Nov 21, 2006

I'm not underestimating anything...
I'm willing to invest time into something that may help me out in my career.

I am a full time trader, and up until now, have always been working with EXCEL, and used services of programmers we had in house. (Unfortunately I cannot use them anymore)

SO now I have the option to either outsource the programming (and with it, part of my trading strategy) or invest in learning how to program myself.

I prefer learning to program as that may be the best solution in the long run, however I'm confused as to which language to use (see previous post) At the moment I'm leaning towards c#

RedDuke · Nov 21, 2006

Quote from swandro:

I think that you need to decide what your primary objective is. If you only want to backtest a system with a view to eventually trading it, then you need to choose a language or backtesting method that you find the easiest. in other words, take the shortest route that you can.

I say this because I believe most people underestimate the work involved in becoming proficient in a programming language. Programming is a skill, and all skills have a long and sharp learning curve. There is no point in putting yourself through it if all you want to do is prove a trading system.

I have seen a bit of Easy Language and I am sure that to a non-programmer, it would be as baffling as any other language. This is because you need to understand the principles of program development before you can apply the syntax.

So what am I saying? I am saying that I think (a) be certain that you understand what you are setting out to achieve. If you are only planning to test one system, why spend 6 months learning how to do it? But if you are going to test many systems, maybe the learning effort is worth it. And (b) please do not underestimate the work involved in becoming proficient at a programming language.
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Very well said.

I said it before, if you think that you can single handed create a winning fully automatic system, you are in for a surprise. Why do you think large institutional traders/investors employ huge IT departments for trading purposes.

It is s nice dream to have a round the clock ATM, but it is a dream, and the sooner most wake up the better.

Regards,
redduke

H2O · Nov 21, 2006

I'm not looking to create a black box, I'm looking to automate PART of my trading.

I'm trading some strategies that involve processing a lot of information and EXCEL has it limitations, especially in fast markets. (SLOW / Hickups)

The software will not even have to execute any trades as I can do that myself. I will just be alerted to options that I may miss by not using any form of automation.

So again... language???

RedDuke · Nov 21, 2006

Quote from H2O:

I'm not looking to create a black box, I'm looking to automate PART of my trading.

I'm trading some strategies that involve processing a lot of information and EXCEL has it limitations, especially in fast markets. (SLOW / Hickups)

The software will not even have to execut any trades as I can do that myself. I will just be alerted to options that I may miss by not using any form of automation.

So again... language???
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Then it is really easy. Go with either Tradestation, E-signal or CQG. Their languages are very similar with a lot of prebuilt functionality.

H2O · Nov 21, 2006

Quote from RedDuke:

Then it is really easy. Go with either Tradestation, E-signal or CQG. Their languages are very similar with a lot of prebuilt functionality.
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Tradestation/eSignal: don't use it and don't want to either. (Used both when I was trading retail, ok, but past that stadium now)
CQG: good charting software, but definately not to be used for what I have in mind.

I get my data either directly from the exchanges (com object) or via one of the available front end solutions available (probably the easiest solution to start with)
You always want to work with a direct feed, and quote vendors (including CQG) do NOT get the same quality quotes as front end devellopers do (Like TT, Eccoware and RTS)

At the moment I'm using Ecco (for the last 2 years) and I can use their API to get the data. I'm not looking for any technical analysis, I'm looking at quotes only and I want to write software that can do my analysis for me in stead of using EXCEL which is sometimes slow.

jasonbraswell · Nov 21, 2006

One nice thing about Python is its text manipulation, much easier than, say, Java's.

spinner · Nov 21, 2006

Okay, I'm virtually convinced that I should use Easy Language on TradeStation, since I'm just looking for the fastest way to more efficient trading/testing.

One question: Has anyone tried out NinjaTrader's Market Strategy which is newly available in the Beta version of NT6? I believe Ninja has their own proprietary programming language.

ModulusFE · Dec 3, 2006

Sooner or later you might run into limitations. Studying VB6 or VB.NET in your spare time would be well worth the investment.
You can always apply what you learn to any other programming language.

Richard