Explain Like I'm 5 (ELI5)

People who write complicated programs implementing financial algorithms for things like high-frequency trading of stocks, often using esoteric functional programming languages such as F# or OCaml.

Imagine you have a big jar of jellybeans, and you want to know how many are inside without counting them one by one. Quants are like the smart kids who can use math and special tricks to figure out the number of jellybeans in the jar. In the grown-up world, quants are people who:

• Use math and computer skills to solve problems in finance, like figuring out the best way to invest money
• Work for banks, investment companies, and other financial firms
• Help make important decisions about buying and selling things like stocks and other investments

So, quants are like super-smart helpers who use their math and computer skills to help people make good choices with their money.

(Comment was written by Perplexity.AI, and edited by a human just for you!)