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The pool of talented C++ developers is running dry

efinancialcareers.com

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Re: The pool of talented C++ developers is running dry

#11

Post by jchw »

joezydeco wrote: post #4
fwsgonzo wrote: post #2

I guarantee that higher quality pay will give you access to a higher quality talent pool.

These are financial firms griping about the lack of developers. They're some of the highest paid developers in the world. But working for these companies is also insanely stressful. Long hours, high pressure. Maybe that reputation has caught up to them.

Last time I looked at the finance industry, which was admittedly a while ago, I saw a C++ job that listed the salary as being around $100k. Sounds reasonable.

In New York City. Oh.

Compare to Google salaries, on levels.fyi for example. I know they're not theoretical or inaccurate because I worked at Google for a while. If you really want to do C++ professionally, that and maybe other FAANG companies seem like they'd give you much higher quality of life.

But the truth is, if you're a C++ developer, you may as well just take up another programming language and get paid more. The data doesn't lie:

https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2022/#technology-top-paying-...

C++ was basically the first programming language I really learned, but I seldom use it in the industry, because I don't know why I would intentionally pick a pay cut to do harder work. (I consider C++ to be "harder" than many of the languages above it in pay grade even when doing the same work, for most tasks.)

Re: The pool of talented C++ developers is running dry

#12

Post by dragontamer »

galangalalgol wrote: post #7
joezydeco wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are financial firms griping about the lack of developers. They're some of the highest paid developers in the world. But working for these companies is also insanely stressful. Long hours, high pressure. Maybe that reputation has caught up to them.

Do people actually use c++ for HFT? I thought it was all verilog and cuda.

CUDA is C++

I imagine some work is also useful on CPUs, and C++ is one of the most efficient languages.

Re: The pool of talented C++ developers is running dry

#13

Post by spamizbad »

joezydeco wrote: post #4
fwsgonzo wrote: post #2

I guarantee that higher quality pay will give you access to a higher quality talent pool.

These are financial firms griping about the lack of developers. They're some of the highest paid developers in the world. But working for these companies is also insanely stressful. Long hours, high pressure. Maybe that reputation has caught up to them.

Having worked with several "veterans" of this industry, I'm inclined to agree.

Also weirdly C++ devs aren't making that much more than the fullstack devs who build FOH tooling for traders.

Re: The pool of talented C++ developers is running dry

#14

Post by sidlls »

pclmulqdq wrote: post #5

"Rewrite it in rust" trading systems edition. But also, these companies have a lot of weird modern C++ shibboleths in their interview processes. If they compromised on those and went for low-level engineering, performance engineering, and software engineering skill instead, there would be many more candidates.

This, among other reasons, is why I avoided applying to these places when my C++ skills were much more current. Certain shibboleths might have been applicable, but these were things any junior developer could have learned and made use of with a few minutes' study: they shouldn't be used in an interview process.

Re: The pool of talented C++ developers is running dry

#15

Post by devnull3 »

I guess C++ is the new COBOL.

When fresh out of college, I used to pride myself knowing C++. I used to revel in its complexity because it made me feel a cut above the rest. How naive & stupid I was.

I have not worked in C++ for a long time, I cannot climb the mountain of complexity again.

Re: The pool of talented C++ developers is running dry

#16

Post by mistrial9 »

lots of expensive California C++ coding got outsourced to the Ukraine and other places, faster than you can say 'dollar conversion' a long time ago. What is this trend, similar to "shortage of truck drivers" and "this airline stewardess job pays up to $300k per year" ?!

Re: The pool of talented C++ developers is running dry

#17

Post by PaulHoule »

galangalalgol wrote: post #7
joezydeco wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are financial firms griping about the lack of developers. They're some of the highest paid developers in the world. But working for these companies is also insanely stressful. Long hours, high pressure. Maybe that reputation has caught up to them.

Do people actually use c++ for HFT? I thought it was all verilog and cuda.

Some high throughput financial systems use Java

Re: The pool of talented C++ developers is running dry

#19

Post by klaussilveira »

Heh. I'm pretty proficient in modern C++, and it is my favorite tool for a lot of things, but my PHP job pays way more than any C++ position available. Did an interview once for Senior C++ Engineer, embedded software in the medical device space. All went good, until the offer: $100k.

Articles like this are nothing more than a desperate attempt at getting younger generations to learn said topic, so companies can pay them crappy salaries.

Re: The pool of talented C++ developers is running dry

#20

Post by ethav1 »

galangalalgol wrote: post #7
joezydeco wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are financial firms griping about the lack of developers. They're some of the highest paid developers in the world. But working for these companies is also insanely stressful. Long hours, high pressure. Maybe that reputation has caught up to them.

Do people actually use c++ for HFT? I thought it was all verilog and cuda.

CUDA applications are usually written in C++. Also, I think HFT normally works with processing tasks that can’t be done in parallel.
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