I completely disagree with this. I've made about 400,000 trades over 12 years... And manage 7 figures, etc, etc... But the hardest thing I have ever done... Was complete a hardcore 4 year Computer Science degree at the University of Toronto... That was very heavily skewed towards math/stats/logic. Total killer program. It took my intellect to another level... And I have thought in a highly structured way since... And can easily see through all the BS here... Whereas 90% of the people here struggle with the most basic logic... LIKE THE GUY WHO STARTED THIS THREAD. A Computer Science/Engineering/Medical/Law degree... All accomplish ** exactly the same thing **... They TRAIN you over many years... To THINK is a way that will make you successful in that given profession. People who have not completed a hardcore university program... Would have absolutely NO IDEA what I am talking about. And back to hedge fund level trading software systems... This is not Rent-A-Coder Mickey Mouse stuff... Or coding accounting software for a tuna boat. Only top engineers in the 100K range are good enough... To develop real-time quant software at this level. A mediocre programmer at 50K would be a complete waste of time and money.
I'm sure you would not generalize this to all of formal education. So, then I guess it is unfortunate you did not go to a better school. Richard
Knowing just programming alone is worthless. Quant jobs at hedge funds require knowledge of programming and high level mathematics. Dual majoring in applied math and computer sci at a top-tier school equals guaranteed $250k starting salary.
I can't imagine that their being too much of a language-specific bias within an industry not directly related to software engineering. Hence, while C++ is certainly a good language to learn, I don't think it's necessary, and there are a lot of good points to be made for learning, say, Java. Regardless, though, I agree with those on here who suggested formal training. Unless you are a prodigy, you will not get where you want to be with a screen and a Deitel book. (Naturally, one should use the schooling as a starting point to real work experience.)
I broke 150K a year as an engineer at the age of 23. Broke 200K at 25. I started programming 6502 machine code when I was 9 and picked up 15 computer languages thru my career. The university program was easy to me, and worthless, because by the time I got to college, I was way ahead of all of my PHD profs, except one. He was a hard core hacker who also started at a very young age. The industry was well ahead of the universities, and so was I. But I knew I needed that stupid piece of paper to open doors, so I played along. I could have learned far more on my own in 5-6 years though. Maybe comp sci was tough for you, but it was trivial to me. I coded nearly all of my "2 month" projects the night before they were due. The higher level math classes were the only challenge. The advanced stats classes helped with the trading, but thats about it. I only wish I started trading earlier, I would have retired long ago. Better late than never. You make 150+ trades a day? = 400K trades in 12 years. High frequency, fully automated, scalping systems? Or you just like to really spread things around?
I now wish I had double majored in finance and computer science. If I were to go back part time and get a computer science degree, would I be able to use a lot of my pre-existing credits?
Its rare to find someone with both. One profession consumes a lot of time, unless you were exposed to both at a early age.
It seems to me that the smart guys major in mathematics/physics/economics (to a lesser extent)/computer science. I feel like finance, although difficult, did not really give me the quantitative or technological background I would have wanted.
I studied a computer science branch of electronic engineering. I feel like computer science did not give me the financial background I would have wanted. There is always something you miss.
The business media gives enough of a education in Finance, regarding macro principles just as well as a University. Though you wont have the degree in that field to ease the publics fears of whos managing their money. My major was biochemistry. You would need some 'frontmen' with the associated credentials to legitimize your operation.