• C++ Programming for Financial Engineering
    Highly recommended by thousands of MFE students. Covers essential C++ topics with applications to financial engineering. Learn more Join!
    Python for Finance with Intro to Data Science
    Gain practical understanding of Python to read, understand, and write professional Python code for your first day on the job. Learn more Join!
    An Intuition-Based Options Primer for FE
    Ideal for entry level positions interviews and graduate studies, specializing in options trading arbitrage and options valuation models. Learn more Join!

Java instead of C++/Python for MFE

Joined
1/29/19
Messages
6
Points
13
Hello! I want to ask two questions.
1)I see in all MFE programs that C++ and Python are required as programming languages.Also in some programs Matlab and R are mentioned.Do you believe that Java is as good as these languages for a programme like MFE? If someone knows Java,is he qualified for doing this Master? I say this because I think that when you are able to handle an object-oriented language,you can learn another one.
2)MFE requires programming ability.Does this mean that a candidate should have working experience as a trader? Or is it enough for him to have excellent knowledge of a language like C++ or Java even if he hasn't worked with financial instruments(for example a computer science undergraduate student)?
 
Java has had its heyday IMO. It's too OOP. It was never that popular in computational finance.

Learn C++ and Python.
 
Last edited:
Hello! I want to ask two questions.
1)I see in all MFE programs that C++ and Python are required as programming languages.Also in some programs Matlab and R are mentioned.Do you believe that Java is as good as these languages for a programme like MFE? If someone knows Java,is he qualified for doing this Master? I say this because I think that when you are able to handle an object-oriented language,you can learn another one.
2)MFE requires programming ability.Does this mean that a candidate should have working experience as a trader? Or is it enough for him to have excellent knowledge of a language like C++ or Java even if he hasn't worked with financial instruments(for example a computer science undergraduate student)?
1) Yes. If you know Java well, you can do that master. You will be fine.

2) Experience as a trader and programming ability are orthogonal concepts. Excellent knowledge of data structures and algorithms will go a long way, regardless of the programming language. You will be able to pick any language if you know one well and know data structures and algorithms.
 
1) Yes. If you know Java well, you can do that master. You will be fine.

2) Experience as a trader and programming ability are orthogonal concepts. Excellent knowledge of data structures and algorithms will go a long way, regardless of the programming language. You will be able to pick any language if you know one well and know data structures and algorithms.
"data structures and algorithms"
I guess just to begin
 
Saw this quote, worth relaying maybe. Not sure how true it is.

PHP is a not only a complete replacement for Python, but PHP is more effective / performant plus Cost-effective. Please, tell me a single thing which Python do, but PHP can not do (including AI / ML Libraries, Desktop and Real-time IO).Flexibility? yes, PHP is merely a wrapper around C++ extensions. Checkout SwoolePHP and Phalcon (Compiled PHP Frameworks). Features ? PHP is competing with languages like Go-Lang, ASP.NET and JAVA. Business / Technical Trade-off? The biggest business-benefit of using PHP is its ease of learning hence cost-effectiveness.
 
Saw this quote, worth relaying maybe. Not sure how true it is.

PHP is a not only a complete replacement for Python, but PHP is more effective / performant plus Cost-effective. Please, tell me a single thing which Python do, but PHP can not do (including AI / ML Libraries, Desktop and Real-time IO).Flexibility? yes, PHP is merely a wrapper around C++ extensions. Checkout SwoolePHP and Phalcon (Compiled PHP Frameworks). Features ? PHP is competing with languages like Go-Lang, ASP.NET and JAVA. Business / Technical Trade-off? The biggest business-benefit of using PHP is its ease of learning hence cost-effectiveness.
Remember when people used to say the same thing about C++ replaced with other languages?

It's momentum and code base deployment. Now Python and Java and C++ and C# are almost everywhere. It takes time an effort to replace them.

I only know about the finance world. I haven't seen any PHP and I have been in a bunch of places and interacted with a lot of people. Maybe I'm mistaken but I don't see PHP breaking-in unless they have an exceptional claim to fame (and being used by Facebook is not the one).
 
Back
Top