Python

Python is a general programming language, with increasing developer support for computational finance applications.  The developments of Numpy, Pandas and Matplotlib (to name a few) make Python an extremely versatile and durable tool for analysing investment opportunities.  In addition to this, the fact that it is a general purpose programming language means that solutions can be packaged and reused for widespread institutional use.

My academic background is primarily econometrics-based, concentrating on applications in panel and time-series data structures .  Therefore, whilst my  knowledge of econometrics is sufficiently deep for the tasks ahead, I am always looking to improve my coding ability.

If anybody is looking for a great introductory (and higher) book on data analysis in Python, then Wes Mckinney's, 'Data Analysis in Python' is great for most data manipulation tasks.