Articles with MQL5 programming examples

icon

Access a huge collection of articles with code examples showing how to create indicators and trading robots for the MetaTrader platform in the MQL5 language. Source codes are attached to the articles, so you can open them in MetaEditor and run them to see how the applications work.

These articles will be useful both for those who have just started exploring automated trading and for professional traders with programming experience. They feature not only examples, but also contain new ideas.

Add a new article
latest | best
Better Programmer (Part 01): You must stop doing these 5 things to become a successful MQL5 programmer
Better Programmer (Part 01): You must stop doing these 5 things to become a successful MQL5 programmer

Better Programmer (Part 01): You must stop doing these 5 things to become a successful MQL5 programmer

There are a lot of bad habits that newbies and even advanced programmers are doing that are keeping them from becoming the best they can be to their coding career. We are going to discuss and address them in this article. This article is a must read for everyone who wants to become successful developer in MQL5.
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 77): Shadow object class
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 77): Shadow object class

Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 77): Shadow object class

In this article, I will create a separate class for the shadow object, which is a descendant of the graphical element object, as well as add the ability to fill the object background with a gradient fill.
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 76): Form object and predefined color themes
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 76): Form object and predefined color themes

Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 76): Form object and predefined color themes

In this article, I will describe the concept of building various library GUI design themes, create the Form object, which is a descendant of the graphical element class object, and prepare data for creating shadows of the library graphical objects, as well as for further development of the functionality.
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 75): Methods of handling primitives and text in the basic graphical element
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 75): Methods of handling primitives and text in the basic graphical element

Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 75): Methods of handling primitives and text in the basic graphical element

In this article, I will continue the development of the basic graphical element class of all library graphical objects powered by the CCanvas Standard Library class. I will create the methods for drawing graphical primitives and for displaying a text on a graphical element object.
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 74): Basic graphical element powered by the CCanvas class
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 74): Basic graphical element powered by the CCanvas class

Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 74): Basic graphical element powered by the CCanvas class

In this article, I will rework the concept of building graphical objects from the previous article and prepare the base class of all graphical objects of the library powered by the Standard Library CCanvas class.
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 73): Form object of a graphical element
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 73): Form object of a graphical element

Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 73): Form object of a graphical element

The article opens up a new large section of the library for working with graphics. In the current article, I will create the mouse status object, the base object of all graphical elements and the class of the form object of the library graphical elements.
preview
Cluster analysis (Part I): Mastering the slope of indicator lines

Cluster analysis (Part I): Mastering the slope of indicator lines

Cluster analysis is one of the most important elements of artificial intelligence. In this article, I attempt applying the cluster analysis of the indicator slope to get threshold values for determining whether a market is flat or following a trend.
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 72): Tracking and recording chart object parameters in the collection
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 72): Tracking and recording chart object parameters in the collection

Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 72): Tracking and recording chart object parameters in the collection

In this article, I will complete working with chart object classes and their collection. I will also implement auto tracking of changes in chart properties and their windows, as well as saving new parameters to the object properties. Such a revision allows the future implementation of an event functionality for the entire chart collection.
Tips from a professional programmer (Part II): Storing and exchanging parameters between an Expert Advisor, scripts and external programs
Tips from a professional programmer (Part II): Storing and exchanging parameters between an Expert Advisor, scripts and external programs

Tips from a professional programmer (Part II): Storing and exchanging parameters between an Expert Advisor, scripts and external programs

These are some tips from a professional programmer about methods, techniques and auxiliary tools which can make programming easier. We will discuss parameters which can be restored after terminal restart (shutdown). All examples are real working code segments from my Cayman project.
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 71): Chart object collection events
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 71): Chart object collection events

Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 71): Chart object collection events

In this article, I will create the functionality for tracking some chart object events — adding/removing symbol charts and chart subwindows, as well as adding/removing/changing indicators in chart windows.
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 70): Expanding functionality and auto updating the chart object collection
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 70): Expanding functionality and auto updating the chart object collection

Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 70): Expanding functionality and auto updating the chart object collection

In this article, I will expand the functionality of chart objects and arrange navigation through charts, creation of screenshots, as well as saving and applying templates to charts. Also, I will implement auto update of the collection of chart objects, their windows and indicators within them.
preview
Tips from a professional programmer (Part I): Code storing, debugging and compiling. Working with projects and logs

Tips from a professional programmer (Part I): Code storing, debugging and compiling. Working with projects and logs

These are some tips from a professional programmer about methods, techniques and auxiliary tools which can make programming easier.
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 69): Chart object collection class
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 69): Chart object collection class

Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 69): Chart object collection class

With this article, I start the development of the chart object collection class. The class will store the collection list of chart objects with their subwindows and indicators providing the ability to work with any selected charts and their subwindows or with a list of several charts at once.
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 68): Chart window object class and indicator object classes in the chart window
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 68): Chart window object class and indicator object classes in the chart window

Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 68): Chart window object class and indicator object classes in the chart window

In this article, I will continue the development of the chart object class. I will add the list of chart window objects featuring the lists of available indicators.
preview
Neural networks made easy (Part 13): Batch Normalization

Neural networks made easy (Part 13): Batch Normalization

In the previous article, we started considering methods aimed at improving neural network training quality. In this article, we will continue this topic and will consider another approach — batch data normalization.
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 67): Chart object class
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 67): Chart object class

Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 67): Chart object class

In this article, I will create the chart object class (of a single trading instrument chart) and improve the collection class of MQL5 signal objects so that each signal object stored in the collection updates all its parameters when updating the list.
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 66): MQL5.com Signals collection class
Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 66): MQL5.com Signals collection class

Other classes in DoEasy library (Part 66): MQL5.com Signals collection class

In this article, I will create the signal collection class of the MQL5.com Signals service with the functions for managing signals. Besides, I will improve the Depth of Market snapshot object class for displaying the total DOM buy and sell volumes.
preview
Neural networks made easy (Part 12): Dropout

Neural networks made easy (Part 12): Dropout

As the next step in studying neural networks, I suggest considering the methods of increasing convergence during neural network training. There are several such methods. In this article we will consider one of them entitled Dropout.
Prices and Signals in DoEasy library (Part 65): Depth of Market collection and the class for working with MQL5.com Signals
Prices and Signals in DoEasy library (Part 65): Depth of Market collection and the class for working with MQL5.com Signals

Prices and Signals in DoEasy library (Part 65): Depth of Market collection and the class for working with MQL5.com Signals

In this article, I will create the collection class of Depths of Market of all symbols and start developing the functionality for working with the MQL5.com Signals service by creating the signal object class.
Prices in DoEasy library (Part 64): Depth of Market, classes of DOM snapshot and snapshot series objects
Prices in DoEasy library (Part 64): Depth of Market, classes of DOM snapshot and snapshot series objects

Prices in DoEasy library (Part 64): Depth of Market, classes of DOM snapshot and snapshot series objects

In this article, I will create two classes (the class of DOM snapshot object and the class of DOM snapshot series object) and test creation of the DOM data series.
preview
Useful and exotic techniques for automated trading

Useful and exotic techniques for automated trading

In this article I will demonstrate some very interesting and useful techniques for automated trading. Some of them may be familiar to you. I will try to cover the most interesting methods and will explain why they are worth using. Furthermore, I will show what these techniques are apt to in practice. We will create Expert Advisors and test all the described techniques using historic quotes.
Prices in DoEasy library (part 63): Depth of Market and its abstract request class
Prices in DoEasy library (part 63): Depth of Market and its abstract request class

Prices in DoEasy library (part 63): Depth of Market and its abstract request class

In the article, I will start developing the functionality for working with the Depth of Market. I will also create the class of the Depth of Market abstract order object and its descendants.
Prices in DoEasy library (part 62): Updating tick series in real time, preparation for working with Depth of Market
Prices in DoEasy library (part 62): Updating tick series in real time, preparation for working with Depth of Market

Prices in DoEasy library (part 62): Updating tick series in real time, preparation for working with Depth of Market

In this article, I will implement updating tick data in real time and prepare the symbol object class for working with Depth of Market (DOM itself is to be implemented in the next article).
Prices in DoEasy library (part 61): Collection of symbol tick series
Prices in DoEasy library (part 61): Collection of symbol tick series

Prices in DoEasy library (part 61): Collection of symbol tick series

Since a program may use different symbols in its work, a separate list should be created for each of them. In this article, I will combine such lists into a tick data collection. In fact, this will be a regular list based on the class of dynamic array of pointers to instances of CObject class and its descendants of the Standard library.
Prices in DoEasy library (part 60): Series list of symbol tick data
Prices in DoEasy library (part 60): Series list of symbol tick data

Prices in DoEasy library (part 60): Series list of symbol tick data

In this article, I will create the list for storing tick data of a single symbol and check its creation and retrieval of required data in an EA. Tick data lists that are individual for each used symbol will further constitute a collection of tick data.
preview
Multilayer perceptron and backpropagation algorithm

Multilayer perceptron and backpropagation algorithm

The popularity of these two methods grows, so a lot of libraries have been developed in Matlab, R, Python, C++ and others, which receive a training set as input and automatically create an appropriate network for the problem. Let us try to understand how the basic neural network type works (including single-neuron perceptron and multilayer perceptron). We will consider an exciting algorithm which is responsible for network training - gradient descent and backpropagation. Existing complex models are often based on such simple network models.
preview
Neural networks made easy (Part 10): Multi-Head Attention

Neural networks made easy (Part 10): Multi-Head Attention

We have previously considered the mechanism of self-attention in neural networks. In practice, modern neural network architectures use several parallel self-attention threads to find various dependencies between the elements of a sequence. Let us consider the implementation of such an approach and evaluate its impact on the overall network performance.
preview
Neural networks made easy (Part 9): Documenting the work

Neural networks made easy (Part 9): Documenting the work

We have already passed a long way and the code in our library is becoming bigger and bigger. This makes it difficult to keep track of all connections and dependencies. Therefore, I suggest creating documentation for the earlier created code and to keep it updating with each new step. Properly prepared documentation will help us see the integrity of our work.
preview
Neural networks made easy (Part 8): Attention mechanisms

Neural networks made easy (Part 8): Attention mechanisms

In previous articles, we have already tested various options for organizing neural networks. We also considered convolutional networks borrowed from image processing algorithms. In this article, I suggest considering Attention Mechanisms, the appearance of which gave impetus to the development of language models.
Prices in DoEasy library (part 59): Object to store data of one tick
Prices in DoEasy library (part 59): Object to store data of one tick

Prices in DoEasy library (part 59): Object to store data of one tick

From this article on, start creating library functionality to work with price data. Today, create an object class which will store all price data which arrived with yet another tick.
Using spreadsheets to build trading strategies
Using spreadsheets to build trading strategies

Using spreadsheets to build trading strategies

The article describes the basic principles and methods that allow you to analyze any strategy using spreadsheets (Excel, Calc, Google). The obtained results are compared with MetaTrader 5 tester.
preview
Timeseries in DoEasy library (part 58): Timeseries of indicator buffer data

Timeseries in DoEasy library (part 58): Timeseries of indicator buffer data

In conclusion of the topic of working with timeseries organise storage, search and sort of data stored in indicator buffers which will allow to further perform the analysis based on values of the indicators to be created on the library basis in programs. The general concept of all collection classes of the library allows to easily find necessary data in the corresponding collection. Respectively, the same will be possible in the class created today.
preview
How to make $1,000,000 off algorithmic trading? Use MQL5.com services!

How to make $1,000,000 off algorithmic trading? Use MQL5.com services!

All traders visit the market with the goal of earning their first million dollars. How to do that without excessive risk and start-up budget? MQL5 services provide such opportunity for developers and traders from around the world.
preview
Neural networks made easy (Part 6): Experimenting with the neural network learning rate

Neural networks made easy (Part 6): Experimenting with the neural network learning rate

We have previously considered various types of neural networks along with their implementations. In all cases, the neural networks were trained using the gradient decent method, for which we need to choose a learning rate. In this article, I want to show the importance of a correctly selected rate and its impact on the neural network training, using examples.
preview
Timeseries in DoEasy library (part 57): Indicator buffer data object

Timeseries in DoEasy library (part 57): Indicator buffer data object

In the article, develop an object which will contain all data of one buffer for one indicator. Such objects will be necessary for storing serial data of indicator buffers. With their help, it will be possible to sort and compare buffer data of any indicators, as well as other similar data with each other.
preview
Timeseries in DoEasy library (part 56): Custom indicator object, get data from indicator objects in the collection

Timeseries in DoEasy library (part 56): Custom indicator object, get data from indicator objects in the collection

The article considers creation of the custom indicator object for the use in EAs. Let’s slightly improve library classes and add methods to get data from indicator objects in EAs.
preview
Practical application of neural networks in trading. Python (Part I)

Practical application of neural networks in trading. Python (Part I)

In this article, we will analyze the step-by-step implementation of a trading system based on the programming of deep neural networks in Python. This will be performed using the TensorFlow machine learning library developed by Google. We will also use the Keras library for describing neural networks.
preview
Timeseries in DoEasy library (part 55): Indicator collection class

Timeseries in DoEasy library (part 55): Indicator collection class

The article continues developing indicator object classes and their collections. For each indicator object create its description and correct collection class for error-free storage and getting indicator objects from the collection list.
preview
Timeseries in DoEasy library (part 52): Cross-platform nature of multi-period multi-symbol  single-buffer standard indicators

Timeseries in DoEasy library (part 52): Cross-platform nature of multi-period multi-symbol single-buffer standard indicators

In the article, consider creation of multi-symbol multi-period standard indicator Accumulation/Distribution. Slightly improve library classes with respect to indicators so that, the programs developed for outdated platform MetaTrader 4 based on this library could work normally when switching over to MetaTrader 5.
preview
Neural networks made easy (Part 3): Convolutional networks

Neural networks made easy (Part 3): Convolutional networks

As a continuation of the neural network topic, I propose considering convolutional neural networks. This type of neural network are usually applied to analyzing visual imagery. In this article, we will consider the application of these networks in the financial markets.