Which language to use (Novice Programmer)

H

H2O

Hi,

I'm looking to automate part of my trading. This will only be very basic stuff to start with, and I will be monitoring it while I'm trading manually.

I used to do some programming in visual basic, though this was before .Net.

Since Microsoft now offers the complete visual studio (express editions) as a download from their website, I will give it a go.

I found that Excel has its limitations (So far all my automation runs in Excel) so I'm looking to dig into one of the more robust languages.

Since I'm completely new to .Net, I have to start from scratch, and I want to know which language (Visual Studio 2005 Express edition) gives me the most for my efforts.

I realize it will take 'some' time / study and I want to get the most out of it in terms of :

Robustness
Speed
Expected lifetime of programming language
Ease of use

Choices are:

Visual Basic
Visual C#
Visual C++

Any suggestions
(Include reasons, see requirements above)
 
C# is the way to go

i would use Delphi over C# because i am bias towards that product.

i wouldn't use VB.net, even tho its improved over the 6.0versions.

i definiately wouldn't use Visual C++ for what you are doing... its too complicated..
 
I use Perl for almost everything, it has served me very well, biggest advantages: easy to use, flexible, easy to access data from web, widely used, allows rapid development
 
If this is your first foray into automation, I would stick with VB6. Especially as you mention you have some VB experience. Keep it simple! - no need battling C#, C++ or even VB.NET learning curves while trying to implement your 1st sys automation.

Does your provider offer robust examples in VB and only a few in .NET or C#? Existing examples (and lack of) can also impact learning curve. On the other hand, if speed is at the top of the list, gotta go with C.
 
So I guess my choices have been narrowed down to C# and VB

What are the differences between the two languages?
(Learning curve / speed / robustness / lifetime)

Thanks for the replies so far
 
Quote from H2O:

So I guess my choices have been narrowed down to C# and VB

What are the differences between the two languages?
(Learning curve / speed / robustness / lifetime)

Thanks for the replies so far
More...

Between VB.net and C# the only real difference is syntax as they both compile into the same interpreted intermediate language. Either would probably suit your needs.
This short article covers some of the features of C# that are useful for trading system development.

http://www.tradingmachines.net/blog_csharp.html

VB6 is obsolete technology. It is very slow and does not support multi-threading and a whole range of other language features. This can cause a lot of difficulty so it would be worth learning a .net language.
 
Quote from squeeze:

Between VB.net and C# the only real difference is syntax as they both compile into the same interpreted intermediate language. Either would probably suit your needs.
This short article covers some of the features of C# that are useful for trading system development.

http://www.tradingmachines.net/blog_csharp.html

VB6 is obsolete technology. It is very slow and does not support multi-threading and a whole range of other language features. This can cause a lot of difficulty so it would be worth learning a .net language.
More...

So what do you think would be the best language to learn in my situation?
 
It depends on whether you are planning to do a lot of programming in the future.

If you are then it would probably be worth investing the effort to learn C#. Otherwise, if you are comfortable with VB6 then learning VB.net might be an easier step.

Ultimately, trading systems can be be built in most of the modern languages so you might as well pick one that feels comfortable and put all your effort into creating something that will make money.
 
Quote from squeeze:

It depends on whether you are planning to do a lot of programming in the future.

If you are then it would probably be worth investing the effort to learn C#. Otherwise, if you are comfortable with VB6 then learning VB.net might be an easier step.

Ultimately, trading systems can be be built in most of the modern languages so you might as well pick one that feels comfortable and put all your effort into creating something that will make money.
More...

Well,

I wanna make sure that if I put in the effort, I will be able to use it for some time. Off course I will be adding features / strategies later on.

So in that case it may be worth the effort going with C# ??
Especially since this is a language that was 'born' as it is, while visual basic has adapted (which seems to have some disadvantages)

Thx in advance
 
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