Let’s start breaking down what Matlab can do within the Quant world for data feeds, modelling, Excel, and C++ compiling
I can only tell from my brief introduction of Mat lab’s help system, I am starting to quickly realize how powerful this application really is. I don’t know even know where to start. I can make a very bold statement that the help system is fantastic. There many detailed descriptions on Matlab’s functions and toolkits. These toolkits are where the power lies for what Matlab can do not only in the world of quant but also include virtually every scientific or mathematic application. It is very broad and powerful.
Anyhow, we need to stay focused on what MATLAB can do for serious quant analyst or quant developer. From what I have seen and read, any person wanting to learn, they should seriously think about using only Matlab. It can virtually do everything any serious quant developer would want. This include modelling, data feeds, parallel computing, algo based toolkits, statistical toolkits, front end synching to spreadsheets like Excel, and enterprise level database integration. Matlab even has the ability to generate C++, C, or Java code for you. Your custom application will be able to interface to most of Matlab’s functionality. This thing includes the kitchen sink.
I can see why Mathworks does charge the high numbers of Matlab. As said, this application does everything. Not only that, it was developed by a bunch of hobbyists with little or no documentation. Their help system is so awesome it includes many examples and videos to get you started. It is very powerful but not very difficult to pick up.
Like I said, you would be wasting your time trying to figure out the world of quant from the programming or technical, I would only use Matlab for now. As you get more advanced, I would easily start considering going out into other technologies which of course include C++, and other programming languages.

You would also be distracted be learning the math side of how quant works. Again, I can only stress to use this powerful if you are trying to learn the math behind quant or rapidly understand the technical aspects of Quant.
Over the coming while, expect to see more Matlab related topics than anything else. As you know, I have given up on the open source stuff as I could get my head around it as fast as I am now with Matlab. It is of high quality, I am quickly picking up all the needed concepts for quant including the math and technical.