Should I Learn MQL4 and WHY? | Forex Factory

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Should I Learn MQL4 and WHY?

  • #1
  • First Post: Feb 6, 2008 6:10pm Feb 6, 2008 6:10pm
Hellow friends;

Since I got involved in trading, I felt a need to learn some kind of language to transform my own ideas in trading into indicators and strategies etc. As I am lazy by nature, I opted to learn Easy Language. As the name suggested I thought it will be EASY. To a point it was easy and the more I practiced the more it became just second nature to me. Wrote a lot of my own indicators and used them.

Now-- As you all know 95% if traders in Forex loose money. So did I. I lost my account with Tradestation. As the trading volume diminished they started charging me 100 dollars a month platform fee for just using their platform. I fet DISGUSTED at that and closed my account with them and started looking for a free platform which allows the programming capability. I considered MT4 as a trading platform and charting package. It does not have bells and whistles of Tradestation charting package but does the job quite well.

I looked into MQL 4 language and it seems quite confusing and complex as compared to Easy Language. In easy language to write a simple Moving Average indicator you can do it in even JUST ONE SHORT LINE OF CODE but to do it in MQL4 you need a full page of code. I am sturggling to write a simple moving average by myself for the last two days and am now just getting close to it.

MY QUESTION TO WHOEVER READS THIS POST:

 

  1. Is is worth learning MQL 4 language?
  2. If any one has experience with both Easly Language and MQL 4? How would you compare both languages and why would you recommend one over the other?
  3. Which of these hold the FUTURE in trading software development?
  4. ANd finally how much time is needed to learn MQL4?

Any suggestions and comments will be welcome.

Thank you for your time and GOD BLESS.

  • #2
  • Feb 6, 2008 6:28pm Feb 6, 2008 6:28pm
1. Yes if you are interesting in programming. The language is similar to C++ with some added functions built in.
2.MQ4 is more of a pain in the a**. With mq4 you can basically code anything in that you want it to do. Easy language is simple and will cover 99% (my made up stat for this post, lol) of what you want it to do.
3. Neither. The true future in my opinion is developing a user friendly ECN interface. Personally I am not too impressed with mt4 brokers. There is too much they can control which plays to their favor. Again, just my opinion.
4. Depends on your programming background. Attached to this post is a zip file with some excellent training that someone else developed. It covers the basics very well.
Attached File(s)
File Type: zip mq4 training.zip   1.9 MB | 4,113 downloads
  • #3
  • Feb 6, 2008 7:05pm Feb 6, 2008 7:05pm
If you have any programming experience, MQL4 is not tough, especially with the lessons posted above.

An MA is only one command in MQL4. Once you learn some commands, it will start coming to you.

If you have no experience writing actual code, then it might be kinda tough.
  • #4
  • Feb 6, 2008 7:34pm Feb 6, 2008 7:34pm
Quoting blueruby
If you have any programming experience, MQL4 is not tough, especially with the lessons posted above.

An MA is only one command in MQL4. Once you learn some commands, it will start coming to you.

If you have no experience writing actual code, then it might be kinda tough.
Will you please send me that one line of code that draws a Moving Average on the chart. I want to start from a simple Moving average and then take from there to more complex indicators. I have some programming experience... understand the basic concepts. Anything new is always tough. but if you are committed; NOTHING is tough.

thanks anyway for the post...
  • #5
  • Feb 6, 2008 10:16pm Feb 6, 2008 10:16pm
he said that a MA is one COMMAND not one line of code. Take the time to read through the pdf's in the file I posted. It will get you started.

To get mt to draw a ma, you must:

1. declare the trendline properties such as where you want it to draw (main window or a new area under the main window).
2. declare how many buffers you need. this buffer is used to store the calculated data and tells metatrader where to draw the line.
3. Declare the buffer.
4. assign data to the buffer. When you do that, mt takes the data and displays it where you told it you wanted the line to go in step one.

Just a basic overview of what is needed. Definitely not easy language where it can be done in one line.
  • #6
  • Feb 7, 2008 11:41am Feb 7, 2008 11:41am
Quoting magnumfreak
he said that a MA is one COMMAND not one line of code. Take the time to read through the pdf's in the file I posted. It will get you started.

To get mt to draw a ma, you must:

1. declare the trendline properties such as where you want it to draw (main window or a new area under the main window).
2. declare how many buffers you need. this buffer is used to store the calculated data and tells metatrader where to draw the line.
3. Declare the buffer.
4. assign data to the buffer. When you do that, mt takes the data and displays it where you told it you wanted the line to go in step one.

Just a basic overview of what is needed. Definitely not easy language where it can be done in one line.

Hello,

Thank you very much for your time and concern. I am already good at writing moving average indicator. I worte a 1 line, 2 line and a 3 line Moving average indictor which are totally customizable. you can change, timeframe, price, length, shift and MA type that you want to draw all from the same indicator.

Now I am working on writing an indicator which draws daily Pivot points on chart. Then I want to write one to draw weekly pivot point, monthly pivot points. I think I can do it.

One thing I have noticed is that MQL does not suck up your processing pwoer. Charts refresh very quickly as opposed to Tradestation which once you refresh a chart takes forever to redraw it. it also does not take a lot of memory. Just by writing a simple moving average, I can see the difference. You have FAR MORE POWER here than you have in Easy Language.

regards...
  • #7
  • Feb 7, 2008 11:56am Feb 7, 2008 11:56am
there are a number of pivot calculators out there that work really well. pivot4x is one that will do 4hr, daily, weekly and monthly pivots. And best of all, free.

You are right on the processor usage with mt4. If the code is written correctly, then all that needs to be done is to calculate for the last candle.

Good luck to you and ask if you run into trouble, most here are willing to help.
  • #8
  • Feb 7, 2008 1:48pm Feb 7, 2008 1:48pm
Quoting magnumfreak
there are a number of pivot calculators out there that work really well. pivot4x is one that will do 4hr, daily, weekly and monthly pivots. And best of all, free.

You are right on the processor usage with mt4. If the code is written correctly, then all that needs to be done is to calculate for the last candle.

Good luck to you and ask if you run into trouble, most here are willing to help.
I know there are free indicators out there. I want to do it myself so I know what I am doing and it will help me learn as well. It seems pretty easy once you know the structure. First two days, my head started hurting after 2-3 hours of struggle to make a sense out of everything and I was on a verge of quitting but then suddenly the moment I was able to write one indicator, everything started falling in place. I downloaded code of various indicators from MQL website and studied it. I believe: A WINNER NEVER QUITS and A QUITTER NEVER WINS. After blowing my live account 3 times, I am still willing to try untill I do it right.

May be one day I will be able to help others like others are helping me.
  • #9
  • Jun 17, 2008 4:18pm Jun 17, 2008 4:18pm
I learned to write MQL4 without syntax errors in a week and a half, but I still can not get my code to execute for the life of me. How far have you gotten? I need help to find the logic errors in my code and I can certainly lend my eyes to any one who wants my help.
  • #10
  • Jun 17, 2008 6:18pm Jun 17, 2008 6:18pm
The lack of a decent debugger is one of MT4's weaknesses. The only way to do it is to put in print statements in key places and see which ones get hit and which ones don't then you'll be able to trace the problem.

Hope that helps.

Lux
MT4 EA, Indicator and Alert Coder Since 2006
  • #11
  • Jun 17, 2008 6:41pm Jun 17, 2008 6:41pm
Debugging MQL4 == Beating yourself to death with your own foot.
The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.
  • #12
  • Jun 17, 2008 6:48pm Jun 17, 2008 6:48pm
Quoting Craig
Debugging MQL4 == Beating yourself to death with your own foot.
You need to create individual codes and test each segment of code bit by bit to see if everything is working as it should. Dont just write it all out in one hit and press run.
  • #13
  • Jun 17, 2008 6:58pm Jun 17, 2008 6:58pm
Quoting gosko
You need to create individual codes and test each segment of code bit by bit to see if everything is working as it should. Dont just write it all out in one hit and press run.
Wow! Based on his one little statement you were able to determine the exact method that he programs under. When you are not writing code do you perhaps work as a psychic??

Even creating individual codes in small segments can create major headaches when coding for MT4. There are several bugs in MT4 that make the process even more interesting.
  • #14
  • Edited 11:03pm Jun 17, 2008 11:02pm | Edited 11:03pm
Some platforms run indexes 0 to -n, MT runs 0 to n. Always confusing to switch. Some call your pgm as bars are loading and you process each bar as it comes in. MT gives you all the bars at once, then you can fill the display buffers as you see fit. EAs: There is always a request for a "simple" EA. IMHO there is NO such thing! It's not the pgm logic - say a simple crossover. It's all the other stuff that has to be handled in a real-time environment (lost connection, order rejected, on and on etc...). Congratulations on taking on this learning curve. Once you learn one language the others come pretty quick. There's always one more little tweak you want to get that indicator just right.
  • #15
  • Jun 18, 2008 2:40am Jun 18, 2008 2:40am
Quoting gosko
You need to create individual codes and test each segment of code bit by bit to see if everything is working as it should. Dont just write it all out in one hit and press run.
Like duh!
MT4 is old news now anyway, with NinjaTrader or NeoTicker you can actually debug your code and it's event driven so things are about 10000000 times easier.
The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.
  • #16
  • Jul 15, 2012 5:52pm Jul 15, 2012 5:52pm
Quoting Craig
Like duh!
MT4 is old news now anyway, with NinjaTrader or NeoTicker you can actually debug your code and it's event driven so things are about 10000000 times easier.
I am on the same way.. Learning programming to code my ATS in C#. I really find difficulty to find many strategies in C# ( NT, OpenQuant) to play with and learn.

I am not sure what i could do for that.

Any suggestion?
Skype: tlcodelearncircle
  • #17
  • Jul 16, 2012 2:02pm Jul 16, 2012 2:02pm
Quoting Lucky57
Hellow friends;

Since I got involved in trading, I felt a need to learn some kind of language to transform my own ideas in trading into indicators and strategies etc. As I am lazy by nature, I opted to learn Easy Language. As the name suggested I thought it will be EASY. To a point it was easy and the more I practiced the more it became just second nature to me. Wrote a lot of my own indicators and used them.

Now-- As you all know 95% if traders in Forex loose money. So did I. I lost my account with Tradestation. As the trading volume diminished...
Learn MQL4 can be very powerfull way, how to test your strategy and make optimalisation. After i found how technical indicators works in 10 year backtesting, i was badly woderfull
  • #18
  • Last Post: May 13, 2023 3:54am May 13, 2023 3:54am
Quoting luxinterior
The lack of a decent debugger is one of MT4's weaknesses. The only way to do it is to put in print statements in key places and see which ones get hit and which ones don't then you'll be able to trace the problem. Hope that helps. Lux

please share your code. And trade logic. I will Try to solve
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