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Just out of interest, what is the main tech used in finance these days? Still a mix of Python, Java and C#?

by cutler 7y ago

chank 7y ago
Not sure Python ever had any significant inroads. It's always been Java and C#. All other languages are pretty outlier by comparison. Golang has seen a big uptick in recent years though.
- cutler 7y ago
  That wasn't my impression: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/jpmorgans-athena-has-35-million-lines-of-python-code-and-wont-be-updated-to-python-3-in-time/ https://www.techrepublic.com/article/jpmorgans-athena-has-35... https://github.com/goldmansachs https://github.com/goldmansachs
  - chank 7y ago
    Having worked with and for many finance giants I'm speaking from my personal experience. Just like every other enterprise on the planet they tend to build their core tech around mature and easily staffed technologies. Both JP and GS are "mainly" java shops I know for a fact. Outlier projects with other languages aside do happen, but that doesn't mean it's the mainline tech. I'm not sure how you derived otherwise from the numerous java projects in their github. Also public repos are only tip of the iceberg.
- aprdm 7y ago
  FWIW bank of America in UK was a huge employer and sponsor of python people
Redoubts 7y ago
Most of the prop shops I've been talking to have been Python & C++.
newnewpdro 7y ago
When my friend worked briefly @ Morgan Stanley he was shocked by the copious amounts of perl they were still using. This was ~7 years ago I believe.
- blendo 7y ago
  Similar perl usage at BlackRock about 7 years ago. Also C++.
gentaro 7y ago
I worked at JP Morgan a couple years back, they were in the process of migrating a ton of their legacy systems to their own terrible proprietary Python offshoot.
- cutler 7y ago
  Athena?
- jjeaff 7y ago
  Why in the world would a finance company need to fork python rather than just a custom framework or something?
markoman 7y ago
I always thought the pinnacle of trading & pricing/risk systems was SecDB [0] at Goldman Sachs? It was, after all, former SecDB devs who JPM hired away back in the mid-aughts to create Athena. Fascinating story hearing how trading houses have tried to keep up with GS by making their own version of SecDB -- the advantages are that decisive. The investment GS made in SecDB must have been major considering they made the 'slang' programming language just for SecDB, apparently. [0] https://news.efinancialcareers.com/uk-en/276170/secdb-quartz-athena-analytics https://news.efinancialcareers.com/uk-en/276170/secdb-quartz...

Just out of interest, what is the main tech used in finance these days? Still a mix of Python, Java and C#?

by cutler 7y ago

Just out of interest, what is the main tech used in finance these days? Still a mix of Python, Java and C#?

Not sure Python ever had any significant inroads. It's always been Java and C#. All other languages are pretty outlier by comparison. Golang has seen a big uptick in recent years though.

cutler 7y ago
That wasn't my impression: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/jpmorgans-athena-has-35-million-lines-of-python-code-and-wont-be-updated-to-python-3-in-time/ https://www.techrepublic.com/article/jpmorgans-athena-has-35... https://github.com/goldmansachs https://github.com/goldmansachs
- chank 7y ago
  Having worked with and for many finance giants I'm speaking from my personal experience. Just like every other enterprise on the planet they tend to build their core tech around mature and easily staffed technologies. Both JP and GS are "mainly" java shops I know for a fact. Outlier projects with other languages aside do happen, but that doesn't mean it's the mainline tech. I'm not sure how you derived otherwise from the numerous java projects in their github. Also public repos are only tip of the iceberg.
aprdm 7y ago
FWIW bank of America in UK was a huge employer and sponsor of python people

Redoubts 7y ago

Most of the prop shops I've been talking to have been Python & C++.

newnewpdro 7y ago

When my friend worked briefly @ Morgan Stanley he was shocked by the copious amounts of perl they were still using. This was ~7 years ago I believe.

blendo 7y ago
Similar perl usage at BlackRock about 7 years ago. Also C++.

gentaro 7y ago

I worked at JP Morgan a couple years back, they were in the process of migrating a ton of their legacy systems to their own terrible proprietary Python offshoot.

cutler 7y ago
Athena?
jjeaff 7y ago
Why in the world would a finance company need to fork python rather than just a custom framework or something?

markoman 7y ago

I always thought the pinnacle of trading & pricing/risk systems was SecDB [0] at Goldman Sachs? It was, after all, former SecDB devs who JPM hired away back in the mid-aughts to create Athena. Fascinating story hearing how trading houses have tried to keep up with GS by making their own version of SecDB -- the advantages are that decisive. The investment GS made in SecDB must have been major considering they made the 'slang' programming language just for SecDB, apparently. [0] https://news.efinancialcareers.com/uk-en/276170/secdb-quartz-athena-analytics https://news.efinancialcareers.com/uk-en/276170/secdb-quartz...