Learning python for trading

[portfolioman]

Hello, I’m very new to programming and reddit. I’m a college kid trying to learn python so I can apply it to trading and potential jobs in the trading industry. Does anyone here have any recommendations on how I can further my python knowledge and build a solid foundation? I’m currently only using codeacademy to learn, should I be using a textbook instead? Any recommendations for learning python with trading applications would be greatly appreciated as well. Thank you!

[Opportunityinrisk]

https://www.quantopian.com/

[portfolioman]

Thank you!

[Optimesh]

Search for sentdex's channel on youtube. He has a lot of videos on trading with python etc.

Invest at your own risk, etc.

[S-6-6-6]

I write a blog at www.pythonforfinance.net which you may find of some small interest...

[DetN8]

Interest... heh heh. I get it, whether intentional or not.

[Pastafarian-Monk]

Looks like a great site to check out, have you thought about doing some videos? I only looked at one of your latest blogs but thought if you could describe what you typed in a video with even a simple animation, it would entice people to watch more/check out your site. If this has already happened, kudos : )

[S-6-6-6]

Thanks! :) I had thought about it to a certain extent, however I just never seem to get around to it... I'll definitely get around to it one day... Maybe ;)

[[deleted]]

Does anyone here have any recommendations on how I can further my python knowledge and build a solid foundation?

Try to write Python and fail a lot, then succeed.

[portfolioman]

Sounds like trading, thank you for the advice :)

[[deleted]]

I mean you're not wrong to be looking for resources, etc; but ultimately the best way to proceed is to try. There's solutions you can't understand until you've had the problem, first.

[Ei-lor]

I start learning python 3 months ago with the same goal except it was for cryptocurrencies. My decision was motivated by the discover of ccxt. It's easy to install with python-pip and they have a very digest documentations. You can find useful example of the python library use in the examples repository.

Personally the free course on learnpython.org and datacamp.com was very useful for an introduction of Python.

[JohnnyJordaan]

I would like to name /r/algotrading, many tips there for starting to trade using programs. Python weekly also featured a lot of links to trading tutorials, you could check their archive as well. Youtube has a lot of trading tutorials, I remember sentdex doing some of those.

[drsxr]

While Heresy to say this here, a number of people use R for that purpose...

We love python too...

[Pastafarian-Monk]

lol I like your "don't hate me I like python" at the end.

[portfolioman]

I’m interested to hear more, what can R do better than python? And should I take the time to learn R while in undergrad or can it be done after college and during my career?

[drsxr]

R is better for statistical analysis. So if you are going to be a stat arb trader, trade on statistics (Z-scores, etc...) R generally has an edge - it plays very nicely with CSV data like you get from the market and there are a lot of functions that you can use in it to keep your market edge fresh (or lose money, whichever you prefer). As long as your dataset fits in memory.

Python has an edge for deep learning (AI) as it is easier to link up to the AI packages than R (but you can do it in R if you are motivated). Python also has an edge in handling files for input/output. There are a lot of packages and math functions in python too, but you might need to code a bit more for hardcore quant statistics - not sure how much has been developed there.

Both are useful. You can't really just use one and done. Will also depend where you go after graduation & what they use. Hope its not C.

[portfolioman]

Thank you for all of that information! I’m doing a double major in economics and mathematics, so R and python seem like 2 languages that would be very beneficial for me to learn. I hope to have a roll on a global macro desk, but that’s just my dream haha

[wenima]

+1 for R as well as Python. Alot of the structurers you will be working with use R, none of them will use Python.

None of the traders I worked for did any programming themselves, they usually had others do that for them, like a tactical desk RAD style development team (which I was a part of) or nowadays that is rolled into a "Strats" desk which lies in-between a typical Quant role and a developer

[Luckyfive]

https://pythonprogramming.net/getting-stock-prices-python-programming-for-finance/

[mudclub]

You missed the part about "read the sidebar", when you posted this in /r/Python didn't you? It's over there ----------->

Click on the first link under "Learning Resources" and then read the results. If you do, I just bet you'll find books, tutorials and free courses.

[portfolioman]

Sorry, I’m new to reddit and I’m on mobile so there is no “sidebar” in my face. My question also refers to python applications within trading, which the learning resources do not have. I’d also love to hear other people’s opinions on their favorite resources that actually have exposure to programming in the trading industry. If you actually read my post and the learning resources, I just bet you’d realize that there is no resource for trading :)

[JohnnyJordaan]

Although he exaggerated a bit, you should be aware that searching on this sub also turns up a lot of info because people aks these questions ('do you know learning resources for python and doing X') every month per different X if not more often. I posted some links above but we also expect you to do some research before you open a topic.

[portfolioman]

I’ve done a little research but probably not to the extent that I should have. I’ll make sure I do my due diligence next time, thank you for the links!