When you're doing performance optimization, C++ is basically C. You restrict yourself to an almost C subset and maybe end up doing some clever stuff with templates.

"And yes, I bootstrapped my own HFT"

I would be interested in hearing your story. Would you like to share some details?

Realized this would be a much larger effort than a single HN reply or a single blog post would justify, so I am starting a blog series on this. First post: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2829116

Thanks! The first post left me hungry for more :D

Would love to hear more about what's involved on bootstrapping an HFT house.