ok. everything i was referring to assumed you would only connect to a broker API using a modern day popular language (c++, java,c#,python,perl). As for professional tools, there's opensource stuff that is probably better than anything you can buy in most cases those proprietary platforms that cost a lot hit there limits very quickly.
So basically you are saying that i wasted 750 usd on buying open quant....when i can do it all in visual studio...MY FIRST ROOKIE MISTAKE!!!!!!!
Rosy2 has convinced me that it is time for a retired old dog to learn some new tricks. There are many long time programmers, like myself, who have large base of strategies or profitable systems in older platforms like Tradestation using Easy language that we started developing the in 1990s when trading technology was in its infancy. However, in todayâs environment we can now make these strategies more profitable by converting to C, C++, or C# programming environments that give us the programmer testing tools that are not available on many current trading platforms. I thank you Rosy2 for your advice.
Look at all the functions that OpenQuant has already written. There are quite a few. You certainly could write all of those yourself, but couldn't do it for $750. Think of it this way - you paid $750 for a lot of pre-written, tested code that others are using in production systems. Also, for what its worth, with OpenQuant you are broker neutral so you aren't necessarily coding to a broker's API. I dont think it was a mistake to buy OpenQuant. Other may disagree, but my experience with programmers has been that they build many more things themselves than they need to as they feel they need 'custom' such and such and do not buy something that could do 90% of what they need with much less effort. While there may be strong reasons to build in some cases, that is not always the case. I think the developers do this as they enjoy building the item & being able to say they built it. I think you will be up & running MUCH quicker with openquant or ninjatrader or something similar than you would be if you tried to start from scratch. Eric
Yes, I agree that programming can be tough to learn yet if you know you can build your own systems. But, you can also program your own systems using the existing trading software like TradersStudio, Trading Blox, TradeStation, MultiCharts, Amibroker etc.
Imho, you did, not because of VC# but because NinjaTrader is free. VC# is to learn programming and to eventually write code components (dlls) that can be used within NinjaTrader or OQ. For example, if you are planning to use FFT to analyze price signals, you should write code for computing FFT in VC# (including testing, debugging, etc), and then you'd use that code component from within NinjaTrader or OQ. Please feel free to ask any question if this connection between VC# and C#-based trading platform (NT, OQ) is not clear â Iâd be happy to clarify. P.S. Iâm not suggesting that you should program any general trading stuff thatâs already been provided by the platform (like broker api, etc). ---
Balls, Just so you know, VB .NET is just C# without the open and close brackets. The VB and C# teams damn near share the exact same features now with the upcoming C# 4.0 release. I think Microsoft kept the 'VB' brand around during the transition to .NET so they wouldn't alienate the VB community. If you would like to be taken somewhat seriously go for C#. It took me 2-3 months by book to grasp C# 1.0, but I've been programming for some 10 odd years up until .NET rolled around. Java + Eclipse IDE is also a good route, and its platform independent, unlike C# which is really meant to be paired with VisualStudio IDE on Windows. Yes, I suppose you could compile and run C# with Mono IDE also.
Don't forget SharpeDevelop. It's great and a *little* more affordable than Visual Studio (as in FREE). Wayne
hi DC, i would love to ask questions, but i am not knowledge yet enuff to ask certain things...if i run into issues in the future i will give you a shout. i noticed that on Ninja trader you can use it free for historical analysis but you have to purchase it if you want it for real time trading.