Preface
Nottoolongago,Pythonasaprogramminglanguageandplatformtechnologywas
consideredexotic—ifnotcompletelyirrelevant—inthefinancialindustry.Bycontrast,
in2014therearemanyexamplesoflargefinancialinstitutions—likeBankofAmerica
MerrillLynchwithitsQuartzproject,orJPMorganChasewiththeAthenaproject—that
strategicallyusePythonalongsideotherestablishedtechnologiestobuild,enhance,and
maintainsomeoftheircoreITsystems.Thereisalsoamultitudeoflargerandsmaller
hedgefundsthatmakeheavyuseofPython’scapabilitieswhenitcomestoefficient
financialapplicationdevelopmentandproductivefinancialanalyticsefforts.
Similarly,manyoftoday’sMasterofFinancialEngineeringprograms(orprograms
awardingsimilardegrees)usePythonasoneofthecorelanguagesforteachingthe
translationofquantitativefinancetheoryintoexecutablecomputercode.Educational
programsandtrainingstargetedtofinanceprofessionalsarealsoincreasingly
incorporatingPythonintotheircurricula.Somenowteachitasthemainimplementation
language.
TherearemanyreasonswhyPythonhashadsuchrecentsuccessandwhyitseemsitwill
continuetodosointhefuture.Amongthesereasonsareitssyntax,theecosystemof
scientificanddataanalyticslibrariesavailabletodevelopersusingPython,itseaseof
integrationwithalmostanyothertechnology,anditsstatusasopensource.(SeeChapter1
forafewmoreinsightsinthisregard.)
Forthatreason,thereisanabundanceofgoodbooksavailablethatteachPythonfrom
differentanglesandwithdifferentfocuses.Thisbookisoneofthefirsttointroduceand
teachPythonforfinance—inparticular,forquantitativefinanceandforfinancial
analytics.Theapproachisapracticalone,inthatimplementationandillustrationcome
beforetheoreticaldetails,andthebigpictureisgenerallymorefocusedonthanthemost
arcaneparameterizationoptionsofacertainclassorfunction.
Mostofthisbookhasbeenwritteninthepowerful,interactive,browser-basedIPython
Notebookenvironment(explainedinmoredetailinChapter2).Thismakesitpossibleto
providethereaderwithexecutable,interactiveversionsofalmostallexamplesusedinthis
book.
Thosewhowanttoimmediatelygetstartedwithafull-fledged,interactivefinancial
analyticsenvironmentforPython(and,forinstance,RandJulia)shouldgoto
http://oreilly.quant-platform.comandtryoutthePythonQuantPlatform(incombination
withtheIPythonNotebookfilesandcodethatcomewiththisbook).Youshouldalso
havealookatDXanalytics,aPython-basedfinancialanalyticslibrary.Myotherbook,
DerivativesAnalyticswithPython(WileyFinance),presentsmoredetailsonthetheory
andnumericalmethodsforadvancedderivativesanalytics.Italsoprovidesawealthof
readilyusablePythoncode.Furthermaterial,and,inparticular,slidedecksandvideosof
talksaboutPythonforQuantFinancecanbefoundonmyprivatewebsite.
IfyouwanttogetinvolvedinPythonforQuantFinancecommunityevents,thereare
opportunitiesinthefinancialcentersoftheworld.Forexample,Imyself(co)organize
meetupgroupswiththisfocusinLondon(cf.http://www.meetup.com/Python-for-Quant-
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