Language for Finance/Economics

[Tony0693]

Hey everyone,

I'm on my way to a double major in Math and Economics but feel like having some programming knowledge would give me an edge when i graduate. I do have a background in Visual C, having done a year in Mechanical Engineering but i wonder if its even a relevent language nowadays.

Which language is the best for financial applications such as financial analysis and moderate data crunching?


Thanks!

[LPZ]

Originally Posted by Tony0693

Hey everyone,

I'm on my way to a double major in Math and Economics but feel like having some programming knowledge would give me an edge when i graduate. I do have a background in Visual C, having done a year in Mechanical Engineering but i wonder if its even a relevent language nowadays.

Which language is the best for financial applications such as financial analysis and moderate data crunching?


Thanks!

Mathematica® would be worth mastering.

[balamw]

I'd suggest R or MATLAB over Mathematica, personally.

EDIT: For example:

http://www.rinfinance.com/

http://www.mathworks.com/company/eve...nce/index.html

B

[robvas]

Excel.

Seriously.

Also a little SQL can give you a head start, in case you get into reporting.

[Raid]

Originally Posted by Tony0693

Hey everyone,

I'm on my way to a double major in Math and Economics but feel like having some programming knowledge would give me an edge when i graduate. I do have a background in Visual C, having done a year in Mechanical Engineering but i wonder if its even a relevent language nowadays.

Which language is the best for financial applications such as financial analysis and moderate data crunching?


Thanks!

It depends on where you want to go and what you want to do there. During my time at a bank the main statistical tool used was SAS, it's probably still used today as it's seen as a rock solid performer.

I will say robvas is right in recommending Excel and SQL knowledge too... It has certainly helped me in my career.

[Tony0693]

Originally Posted by balamw

I'd suggest R or MATLAB over Mathematica, personally.

EDIT: For example:

http://www.rinfinance.com/

http://www.mathworks.com/company/eve...nce/index.html

B

It has been a while but I finally got the money together to buy some software. The only problem is that I'm lost in terms of add-ons and the actual MATLAB software....
Should I buy MATLAB student version + all the financial and economics add-ons
or do I only buy certain Add-ons without the actual basic MATLAB?

[balamw]

Originally Posted by Tony0693

Should I buy MATLAB student version + all the financial and economics add-ons
or do I only buy certain Add-ons without the actual basic MATLAB?

The toolboxes are useless without the basic package.

The basic student package is $99, then each toolbox is $29. How much are you willing to spend?

At least for commercial customers you can request evaluation copies of individual toolboxes before you buy them, but then of course they are ~10-30x more expensive than the student prices!

B

[Tony0693]

Originally Posted by balamw

The toolboxes are useless without the basic package.

The basic student package is $99, then each toolbox is $29. How much are you willing to spend?

At least for commercial customers you can request evaluation copies of individual toolboxes before you buy them, but then of course they are ~10-30x more expensive than the student prices!

B

I was thinking around $250.. I'll have to research which ones would be the best..

[balamw]

Originally Posted by Tony0693

I was thinking around $250.. I'll have to research which ones would be the best..

You should be able to buy them all. There's only 5 or so specifically for finance/economics which brings you right to $250 if you get them all.

Financial Toolbox
Econometrics Toolbox
Datafeed Toolbox
Financial Instruments Toolbox
Trading Toolbox

B