DefconQ Happy Hour Is Back!
The wait is over: DefconQ Happy Hour is returning to London!
DefconQ Blog
DefconQ Blog
Latest posts
Another Peach Falls Into the Basket - PeachQ
The Summer of New Beginnings
L Has Landed - A New Runtime for k and q Enters the Scene
Not Only the Weather Is Heating Up…
When Markets Never Sleep - Extended Hours, Odd Lots, and the Infrastructure Implications of Always-On Markets
A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about Nasdaq's plans to extend trading hours and what that might mean for market data infrastructure. At the time, the discussion was largely theoretical. It was easy to dismiss it as yet another market structure change that would slowly work its way through committees, working groups, and technology roadmaps.
DefconQ x Databento Meetup - The Market Data Provider You Wish Always Existed
There Is No KDB Without Market Data
The Weekly Q Rumble - Sharpen Your KDB/Q Skills, One Challenge at a Time
Let’s be honest: learning KDB/Q can sometimes feel like going to the gym. You know it’s good for you. You know you should keep practicing. But after a long day of debugging code, fighting with type errors, and wondering why your function suddenly returned a rank error, the last thing you want is to sit down and read another page of documentation.
DefconQ Community Discord Server
The DefconQ Community Server is officially live. Over the last few years, DefconQ has grown from a simple technical blog into something much bigger: a growing community of KDB/Q developers, engineers, quants, and vector programming enthusiasts who genuinely care about learning, building, and pushing the ecosystem forward. Launching a dedicated community server felt like the natural next step.
DefconQ at Iverson College - The Return to Milden Hall
If you’ve been around the KDB/Q ecosystem for a while, chances are you’ve come across the legendary Iverson College. Founded by former KX Librarian Stephen Taylor in honour of Kenneth E. Iverson, the inventor of APL, the college has been running since 2011. After a brief hiatus between 2018 and 2023, it made a strong return in 2024. This year DefconQ joins forces with Stephen to reconvene the…
DefconQ x Squarepoint - Networking Event
The DefconQ Events are back, and this time, we’re taking over The Globe.
Nasdaq Extends Trading Hours - What It Really Means for Market Data Systems
Yesterday (2025.12.16) Nasdaq announced an extension of its trading hours, a move that once again reshapes how modern markets operate. While headlines focus on increased accessibility and global participation, the real impact is felt much deeper in the technology stacks that power trading, analytics, and risk systems.
DefconQ Reddit Ask Me Anything AMA
As promised, I’m hosting a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) on November 13th, 2025, where I will be answering all your questions about KDB/Q, the world’s most powerful time-series database and array programming language.
Quant Strats Europe 2025 - Event Recap & Highlights
Last week marked one of my professional highlights of the year, the long-awaited Quant Strats conference finally took place! Hosted on October 14–15 at Convene 22 Bishopsgate in London, the event delivered two action-packed days filled with cutting-edge insights, technical deep dives, and forward-thinking discussions at the intersection of quantitative finance, AI, and data infrastructure.
From Belfast to New York, Two Happy Hours and a Conference
The past two weeks have been exciting. To mark DefconQ’s two-year anniversary, I hosted not just one, but two Happy Hours, one in Belfast and another in New York. Adding to the excitement, I joined a panel at one of the most prominent conferences in quant finance, right in the heart of New York. Since I was already there, I also spent some time working from my client’s office, a leading hedge fund…
Two Years of DefconQ - From Baby Steps to Big Leaps
It’s hard to believe, but DefconQ just turned two!
Iverson College 2024 - The Highlights Captured on Video
One of the true highlights of last year was being invited to Iverson College 2024, an initiative led by Stephen Taylor, a long-standing advocate of APL and other array programming languages. Stephen is widely known in the KDB/Q community for his contributions, particularly his work on much of the documentation still available on code.kx.com. This post features a short video created by Miki…
ArrayCast Insights - Community Edition, Community Voices - Talking KDB-X on ArrayCast
Because of a scheduling conflict and the unavailability of Stephen Taylor, panelist of the well-known ArrayCast, I had the privilege of stepping in for my third appearance, this time as a (guest) panelist. Or, as the former ice hockey player in me would say, I got called up as the backup goalie.
Brews and Qs Belfast Edition - KX and DefconQ Happy Hour!
September is going to be a busy one. Just in time for DefconQ’s 2nd birthday, we’re hosting not one, but two Happy Hours, on two different continents! I’m thrilled to announce the Brews & Qs: Belfast Edition 🍻, hosted by DefconQ and kindly sponsored by KX.
New York, New York - DefconQ Goes International
As someone truly passionate about finance, Wall Street has always felt like the center of the universe, so I was beyond thrilled to receive an invitation to attend the Cornell Financial Engineering Manhattan 2025 Future of Finance & Ai Conference, hosted by Alexander Fleiss, founder of Rebellion Research.
From Elite to Everyone - KX Community Edition Breaks Loose
This is it ladies and gentlemen! The moment we’ve all been waiting for! KX just dropped the long-promised Community Edition, and IT'S FREE. Yes!!, you read that right: it's free. Not for a week. Not for personal use only. Free to use, even commercially. Holy cow, this honestly feels like Christmas came early this year. If you're wondering what all the hype is about and why I'm so excited about…
The Array Cast - Where Code Meets Curiosity
Last week, I had the honour of making my first solo appearance on the ArrayCast podcast, a show dedicated to everything array programming, and a tribute to the legacy of Kenneth E. Iverson, the legendary creator of APL. While I’ve previously been part of a group discussion during last year’s Iverson College event, this was my first time flying solo.