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macOS Language for Finance/Economics

T

Tony0693

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 14, 2013
29
0
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!
 
L

LPZ

macrumors 65816
Jul 11, 2006
1,221
2
Tony0693 said:
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!
Click to expand...

Mathematica® would be worth mastering.
 
robvas

robvas

macrumors 68040
Mar 29, 2009
3,240
629
USA
Excel.

Seriously.

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

Raid

macrumors 68020
Feb 18, 2003
2,155
4,588
Toronto
Tony0693 said:
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!
Click to expand...
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.
 
T

Tony0693

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 14, 2013
29
0
balamw said:
I'd suggest R or MATLAB over Mathematica, personally.

EDIT: For example:

http://www.rinfinance.com/

http://www.mathworks.com/company/ev...b-computational-finance-conference/index.html

B
Click to expand...


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

balamw

Moderator emeritus
Aug 16, 2005
19,366
979
New England
Tony0693 said:
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?
Click to expand...

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
 
T

Tony0693

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 14, 2013
29
0
balamw said:
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
Click to expand...

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

balamw

Moderator emeritus
Aug 16, 2005
19,366
979
New England
Tony0693 said:
I was thinking around $250.. I'll have to research which ones would be the best..
Click to expand...

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
 
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