Is it possible
Hello All,
I have not done any C++ for a mighty long time, and my career has deviated from traditional programming to "other" types of programming, namely I am a data analyst, specifically clinical data, but, and it's a big but, I am not having as much fun as I used to when I did this kind of programming! So, to cut a long story short, I would like to get back into C++ as a full time career. The question is, is it possible to retrain myself over the period of about one month to being really quite good? I know alot of you guys are young, and will be heading toward a career in game programming, but I want to go back to the world of analytics, so heavy OpenGL is out of the question for me, although I like to play with that stuff, especially when doing stuff with fields and fluid flows (fluid dynamics). Im not so young but still have a good mind, and really love programming, the question is how can I get into the meat-and-potatoes of hard core C++ and do it in a fast efficient way, such that I can switch careers? I know I need to be good, as all yous know, I think game programming is just about the coolest thing you can do asside from actually playing the games, but I am too old for that. Any thoughts, ideas, pointers (no pun intended) will be appreciated.
I have not done any C++ for a mighty long time, and my career has deviated from traditional programming to "other" types of programming, namely I am a data analyst, specifically clinical data, but, and it's a big but, I am not having as much fun as I used to when I did this kind of programming! So, to cut a long story short, I would like to get back into C++ as a full time career. The question is, is it possible to retrain myself over the period of about one month to being really quite good? I know alot of you guys are young, and will be heading toward a career in game programming, but I want to go back to the world of analytics, so heavy OpenGL is out of the question for me, although I like to play with that stuff, especially when doing stuff with fields and fluid flows (fluid dynamics). Im not so young but still have a good mind, and really love programming, the question is how can I get into the meat-and-potatoes of hard core C++ and do it in a fast efficient way, such that I can switch careers? I know I need to be good, as all yous know, I think game programming is just about the coolest thing you can do asside from actually playing the games, but I am too old for that. Any thoughts, ideas, pointers (no pun intended) will be appreciated.
maybe if you realy want a review read a book like accelerated c++, which goes over the basics in like 35o pages. look at alot if code and try to re-familarize yourself with the syntax and see if it comes back to you
If you are to get into programming but with more emphasis on data statistics and analytics, I would recommend Perl instead. Very often for data statistics and analytics, we have A LOT OF DATA in the form of numerical values either in database on export out in plain .csv files. Read,parse,process them into meaningful business specific requirement is the norm.
I recommend Perl becuz it is excellent in such stuff. Furthermore, it's power regular expression can help you to parse those voluminous data files in double-quick time. There are Perl packages geared towards such stuff called BioPerl http://www.bioperl.org
I recommend Perl becuz it is excellent in such stuff. Furthermore, it's power regular expression can help you to parse those voluminous data files in double-quick time. There are Perl packages geared towards such stuff called BioPerl http://www.bioperl.org
Hi Guys!
Well, maybe I was rambling a bit too much in my original post. I was trying to get accross an idea without writing it expicitly. Let me try again. Perl wouldn't be any good for me because high frequency low latency trading applications are not written in Perl. I want to get back into investment banking, and you can only do that in C++ (at least for the back office stuff) I know some front office applications these days are written in C#, but I am not fond of front office anyways except in a "business analyst" role. No, I see myself working closely with quants to deliver fast and furious pricing solutions, order processing solutions, and even "bang up to date" algorithmic trading solutions. My problem then is, I am well rusty on the mechanics of C++ and am too old to spend the next 5 years learning it. I want you guys to tell me either, yes, it can be done, you can go from 20 to 60 MPH in 2 months and be good enough for one of those jobs, or tell me forget it, you cant learn enough and become good enough without 3 years solid of hacking C++ in a professional setting.
Well, maybe I was rambling a bit too much in my original post. I was trying to get accross an idea without writing it expicitly. Let me try again. Perl wouldn't be any good for me because high frequency low latency trading applications are not written in Perl. I want to get back into investment banking, and you can only do that in C++ (at least for the back office stuff) I know some front office applications these days are written in C#, but I am not fond of front office anyways except in a "business analyst" role. No, I see myself working closely with quants to deliver fast and furious pricing solutions, order processing solutions, and even "bang up to date" algorithmic trading solutions. My problem then is, I am well rusty on the mechanics of C++ and am too old to spend the next 5 years learning it. I want you guys to tell me either, yes, it can be done, you can go from 20 to 60 MPH in 2 months and be good enough for one of those jobs, or tell me forget it, you cant learn enough and become good enough without 3 years solid of hacking C++ in a professional setting.
| namely I am a data analyst, specifically clinical data |
Hi sorry I misunderstand your original post. I thought from the above you are in some medical industry and need to churn and process medical related data.
If trading, yes I would agree C++ is the way to go. As for 20 to 60 MPH in 2 months will depend a lot on each individual learning pace and enthusiasm. To me C++ is a pretty hard to tame beast so 2 months can be quite a bit demanding for me. Others may learn faster than 2 months though.
However if all along you have been programming say with other programming language, than C++ in 2 months is doable since simple conditional,loop construct,class,function etc are familiar to you. You just got to learn those more specific features in C++. STL (this template library is a life-saver and the only saving grace why I am still in the C++ camp :) operator overloading,reference vs pointer vs value etc.
@sohguanh - no problem! Yes I do clinical data processing using a language called SAS. But that's exactly what I want to get away from, but I cant just show up at a bank and say "Hi guys can I go back to trading app development?" they will simply laugh. So first I need to re-do my C++, get good, then show up and say "Hi guys - Im good, let me back in".
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