HFT Trading Simulation Platform

A high-performance trading system simulator built in modern C++20.

This project is designed to replicate the core components used inside electronic exchanges, quantitative trading firms, and high-frequency trading (HFT) environments.

The goal is to progressively build a low-latency trading stack from scratch while following industry-level architecture and engineering practices.

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Current Features

Order Management

• Limit Order support
• Buy and Sell side orders
• Timestamped orders
• FIFO order priority within price levels

Order Book

• Separate Bid and Ask books
• Price Level management
• Best Bid calculation
• Best Ask calculation

Matching Engine

• Incoming orders processed against resting liquidity
• Trade generation
• Partial fills
• Remaining quantity added back to the order book

Market Data Feed

• Continuous random order generation
• Simulated market activity
• Configurable order rates

WebSocket Infrastructure

• Boost.Beast based WebSocket server
• Real-time market data streaming foundation
• Ready for frontend integration

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Current Project Structure

backend
│
├── apps
│   └── exchange
│       └── main.cpp
│
├── include
│   ├── book
│   ├── common
│   ├── feed
│   ├── matching
│   ├── network
│   ├── order
│   └── trade
│
├── src
│   ├── book
│   ├── feed
│   ├── matching
│   └── network
│
└── CMakeLists.txt

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Technology Stack

Backend

• C++20
• STL
• Boost.Asio
• Boost.Beast
• CMake

Frontend (Planned)

• React
• TypeScript
• WebSocket API
• Trading Dashboard

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How To Build

Requirements

Install:

• MSYS2 UCRT64
• GCC 15+
• CMake 4+
• Boost 1.90+

Verify installation:

g++ --version
cmake --version

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Build

cd backend

mkdir build
cd build

cmake .. -G "MinGW Makefiles"

cmake --build .

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Run

./exchange.exe

Example output:

BUY 45 @ 252
BEST BID: 252
BEST ASK: 253

TRADE 20 @ 252

BUY 30 @ 253
BEST BID: 253
BEST ASK: 253

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Current Architecture

MarketDataFeed
        ↓
MatchingEngine
        ↓
OrderBook
        ↓
Trade Generation
        ↓
Console Output

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Future Roadmap

Phase 1 — Exchange Core

• Order structures
• Price levels
• Order book
• Matching engine
• Trade generation
• Market data simulation

Phase 2 — Real-Time Streaming

• WebSocket server foundation
• JSON market messages
• Trade broadcasting
• Order book broadcasting

Architecture:

Matching Engine
        ↓
Market Publisher
        ↓
WebSocket Server
        ↓
Frontend

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Phase 3 — Trading Dashboard

• React frontend
• Live order book
• Trade tape
• Market statistics
• Orders per second
• Trades per second
• Latency monitoring

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Phase 4 — Advanced Exchange Features

• Market orders
• Order cancellation
• Order modification
• Iceberg orders
• Stop orders
• Order persistence

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Phase 5 — Quant Infrastructure

• Strategy engine
• Backtesting engine
• Risk engine
• Position tracking
• PnL calculations
• Performance analytics

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Phase 6 — HFT Features

• Lock-free queues
• Memory pools
• Custom allocator
• Multi-threaded matching
• CPU affinity
• Latency benchmarking
• Nanosecond timestamps
• Market replay engine

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Project Vision

The long-term objective is to build a realistic simulation of an electronic exchange and quantitative trading platform.

The completed system will include:

• Exchange Matching Engine
• Market Data Feed Handler
• Strategy Engine
• Risk Management System
• Backtesting Framework
• Real-Time Dashboard
• Latency Monitoring Tools

This project serves as a learning platform for:

• High-Frequency Trading (HFT)
• Quantitative Development
• Exchange Design
• Low-Latency Systems
• Modern C++ Engineering
• Distributed Market Infrastructure

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Disclaimer

This project is intended for educational and research purposes. It is not designed for production trading or financial advice.