Python or C++? Hudson River Trading explains which languages are needed for each job

Getting a job at a major prop trading firm usually requires experience in either Python or C++. Oftentimes, though, it requires experience in both programming languages; in a blog post earlier this month from Hudson River Trading (HRT), one of its engineers broke down the fact that C++ and Python jobs in prop trading are on a spectrum.

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Joe Smith, an engineer at HRT, said that engineering staff are broadly divided into ‘Trading Tech’ or ‘Research & Development Platform’. C++ and Python are in use for both these teams, but the extent to which they use them differ; “Trading Tech’s language focus is something like 70% C++ and 30% python… Research & Development’s is roughly 70% python and 30% C++.”

There are broadly seven categories of engineering jobs that require different programming language expertise: hardware engineers (requiring Verilog), low level C++ engineers, standard C++ engineers, C++/Python hybrids, standard Python engineers, systems automation Python engineers and Python/Typescript hybrids.

Which roles fit into which archetype, though? Smith broke down a few specific examples.

Distributed Compute Engineer – Python & C++

Smith says this role is roughly “60% C++ and 40% Python” and focuses on “the scheduling and orchestration software that runs our clusters.” HRT’s job listings seem to back up this C++ focus, it’s currently hiring an experienced developer in the team that it prefers to be a daily C++ user, while simply having “Python familiarity.”

Post Trade Analytics – Python

Smith said some Hudson River Trading staff are ‘HFT Research Accel[eration] Engineers’ and that they “help with the research and post trade analysis for our high frequency trading group.” This is done in Python, which has a more robust ecosystem of libraries designed for high-speed data analysis.

Tools Development – Python & C++

Smith said that BAT (Build Autotest Tools) engineers work in both C++ and Python. They’re focused on building “distributed test systems, distributed and cached builds, and many more tools used by all engineering and trading teams at HRT.” 

A job opening for a development tools engineer in Austin requires “deep Python or C++ experience.” You presumably need to have at least familiarity with the other language, as you’ll be expected to “describe software designs at a high level, low level, and anywhere in between.”

Fullstack Engineer – Typescript/Python

Smith says fullstack engineers work on the graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for both trading and R&D. The role sits within Trading Tech because the firm has “more custom live trading GUIs than we do custom research GUIs,” making this a Python role in a C++ dominant division.

Trading Tech Infrastructure Engineer – Low Level C++

Infrastructure engineers have a pretty wide remit; Smith says they work on a number of things, for example, “routing data between datacenters across low-bandwidth, low-latency links,” or working on software that interacts with HRT’s hardware layer. It’s about as low down the tech stack as you can get without becoming a hardware engineer, and the focus here is often on speed, requiring knowledge of specialist low latency coding techniques.

Core Markets Engineer/Trading Acceleration Engineer – C++

Smith said core markets engineers focus “on order entry and market data connectivity for particular exchanges across a variety of asset classes.” Trading acceleration engineers, meanwhile, are expected to “solve latency & scaling issues in the live trading path.”

These are both engineering roles interacting with external firms in a live trading context. C++ is the dominant language in finance today when it comes to interacting with exchanges at a low latency level.

Systems Software Engineer – Systems Automation/Python

Engineers in this role monitor and manage the firm’s servers and network equipment. Smith said, “the work is primarily Python development (with some Go mixed in),” and has a focus on creating “high-reliability” systems.

This is another tools development role; an open listing for a systems engineer in Colorado says that the engineer will “improve and integrate our existing tools and libraries across the platform.” 

Should I learn Python or C++ for a job in high-frequency trading?

If you want a sustainable career in HFT, you probably want to learn both languages. Smith said that, at HRT, “many people are capable of performing multiple jobs over their career, and we actively encourage people to “rotate” between different jobs.”

There’s also a growing demand across finance for the ‘quant-engineer-infra hybrid’ that can work across both research and infrastructure domains. Knowledge of both high and low-level languages for these kinds of jobs is presumably a prerequisite.

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