Yes, and this exactly is the reason why a book like (Programming for Traders) will become very successful! ;-)
Arold, I guess I am a potential customer of your book... I have been using Wealth-Lab Developer to run my system. I myself programmed it using the built-in WealthScript and run my system with Wealth-Lab. Although I think that WLD is very flexible, I would like to program my own proprietary software. Nevertheless, I wonder how much expertise and practice I would need to develop my own Windows trading software capable of displaying charts, signals, reading, writing and manipulating data files, doing portfolio simulation, calculating perfomance, backtesting, statistical analysis... and the list goes on. The WLD was developed by a team of programmers, as far as I know, and they are still finding bugs day in and day out... So, after all, do you think I will be able to write my own Windows program after reading such a book as "Learn to Program with C#"? I also feel like looking for an expert programmer as an associate who would guide me step-by-step in the development of my own software while I share with him my trading philosophy. What do you think? As a matter of fact I would like to have a programmer and another associate who might help us to set up our own business in the industry.
I think EricP mentioned how a book on programming ideas/principles for developing trading strategies might not have enough of an audience to make it an economic proposition. This is likely to be true. However, another reason why people write books is advertising. If you can explain clearly how one should tackle the various issues associated with backtesting data, I'm sure the money will not come from the book but rather from funds and banks interested in engaging you as a consultant.
No, i think this is not true. I dont know about the economic proposition of book-business, but why should there not enough audience to make "Programming for Traders" succesful? This thread starts on 06-19-06. Now one week later this book we are talking is more popular than some others... I will organise, if this book is published in english, a german translation and publishing company for europe.
I honestly think that this sort of expectation is unrealistic especially after reading just one book, no matter how good it is, and how oriented towards trading it might be. Turning out something like WealthLab is a major undertaking - several person years at least for experienced developers. You really have to set reasonable expectations, and start with something very small and manageable, though still usefull. Your idea of working with an experienced developer is a very good one. Learning programming can be very frustrating as one frequently comes up against the situation of 'how do I do X ?' and without a little push in the right direction an awful lot of unproductive time will be consumed in finding out. Working with a competant experienced person is also very important in developing good practices which is not the same thing as learning C# or any other language. In software development, as in many things, experience counts.
Go for it. Most teachers say they learn more than the students when they have to prepare their materials. It would be a great experience and your exposure to smart and helpful colleagues would probably pay hugh dividends over time. If you focus on the money too much, it kills the vision. Just like trading.
Yes. I see how hard they try to fix all bugs and implement new requested features. As a matter of fact, I don't see any "viable" reason to tackle the challenge myself, since their software and script is quite powerful and flexible, enough for me to develop a system, back-test it, optimize it, do statiscal studies, handle data, read and write files, etc... The only feature they lack and which they say they want to implement someday is to integrate cash interest calculation, funds withdrawal and deposit into the system. Yet, I have found some workarounds with the available functions. While I would like to try some programming myself, I realize that such a task might be overwhelming and consume years of work... With regard to the book, I guess the author would have to present a kind of "template" of trading software upon which the reader would be able to make slight changes, implement some features or adapt to his needs... What do you mean by something "small" and "manageable"? Do you mean some DOS-like software tailored for a spefic strategy. Which language do you use? Are there resources which I can use such as samples, models, etc.?
Quote from twinx: No, i think this is not true. I dont know about the economic proposition of book-business, but why should there not enough audience to make "Programming for Traders" succesful? You answered your own question. Shop your idea around to "real" publishers (like ORA, MHP, etc.) and you'll get educated on the economics of the biz. They will likely refer you to publishers that are collectively known as the "vanity press", who you basically pay to print your book (no risk for them), and you are responsible for marketing it. Some may offer to market it for you (for a fee), but it's not usually worth what you pay them.