MQL4 and MQL5 Programming Articles
Study the MQL5 language for programming trading strategies in numerous published articles mostly written by you - the community members. The articles are grouped into categories to help you quicker find answers to any questions related to programming: Integration, Tester, Trading Strategies, etc.
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MQL4 as a Trader's Tool, or The Advanced Technical Analysis
Trading is, first of all, a calculus of probabilities. The proverb about idleness being an engine for progress reveals us the reason why all those indicators and trading systems have been developed. It comes that the major of newcomers in trading study "ready-made" trading theories. But, as luck would have it, there are some more undiscovered market secrets, and tools used in analyzing of price movements exist, basically, as those unrealized technical indicators or math and stat packages. Thanks awfully to Bill Williams for his contribution to the market movements theory. Though, perhaps, it's too early to rest on oars.
Beginners' Mistakes when Working with MetaTrader 4 Client Terminal
Err is human. Everybody makes mistakes: more or less frequently, through ignorance or inadvertently. You ask and we answer your questions about: terminal time, test results, Print in journal, symbols, history for Tester, history import, leverage, traffic, hints, scaling, wrong calculations, Invalid account, Empty News, Price changed, Not Enough Money, Market Is Closed.
Better Programmer (Part 03): Give Up doing these 5 things to become a successful MQL5 Programmer
This is the must-read article for anyone wanting to improve their programming career. This article series is aimed at making you the best programmer you can possibly be, no matter how experienced you are. The discussed ideas work for MQL5 programming newbies as well as professionals.
Timeseries in DoEasy library (part 48): Multi-period multi-symbol indicators on one buffer in a subwindow
The article considers an example of creating multi-symbol multi-period standard indicators using a single indicator buffer for construction and working in the indicator subwindow. I am going to prepare the library classes for working with standard indicators working in the program main window and having more than one buffer for displaying their data.
Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 22): New order system (V)
Today we will continue to develop the new order system. It is not that easy to implement a new system as we often encounter problems which greatly complicate the process. When these problems appear, we have to stop and re-analyze the direction in which we are moving.
Neural networks made easy (Part 67): Using past experience to solve new tasks
In this article, we continue discussing methods for collecting data into a training set. Obviously, the learning process requires constant interaction with the environment. However, situations can be different.
Experiments with neural networks (Part 5): Normalizing inputs for passing to a neural network
Neural networks are an ultimate tool in traders' toolkit. Let's check if this assumption is true. MetaTrader 5 is approached as a self-sufficient medium for using neural networks in trading. A simple explanation is provided.
Population optimization algorithms: Harmony Search (HS)
In the current article, I will study and test the most powerful optimization algorithm - harmonic search (HS) inspired by the process of finding the perfect sound harmony. So what algorithm is now the leader in our rating?
CCI indicator. Three transformation steps
In this article, I will make additional changes to the CCI affecting the very logic of this indicator. Moreover, we will be able to see it in the main chart window.
Fractal Analysis of Joint Currency Movements
How independent are currency quotes? Are their movements coordinated or does the movement of one currency suggest nothing of the movement of another? The article describes an effort to tackle this issue using nonlinear dynamics and fractal geometry methods.
Brute force approach to patterns search (Part VI): Cyclic optimization
In this article I will show the first part of the improvements that allowed me not only to close the entire automation chain for MetaTrader 4 and 5 trading, but also to do something much more interesting. From now on, this solution allows me to fully automate both creating EAs and optimization, as well as to minimize labor costs for finding effective trading configurations.
How to create a custom True Strength Index indicator using MQL5
Here is a new article about how to create a custom indicator. This time we will work with the True Strength Index (TSI) and will create an Expert Advisor based on it.
The price movement model and its main provisions. (Part 3): Calculating optimal parameters of stock exchange speculations
Within the framework of the engineering approach developed by the author based on the probability theory, the conditions for opening a profitable position are found and the optimal (profit-maximizing) take profit and stop loss values are calculated.
MT4TerminalSync - System for the Synchronization of MetaTrader 4 Terminals
This article is devoted to the topic "Widening possibilities of MQL4 programs by using functions of operating systems and other means of program development". The article describes an example of a program system that implements the task of the synchronization of several terminal copies based on a single source template.
Multiple indicators on one chart (Part 03): Developing definitions for users
Today we will update the functionality of the indicator system for the first time. In the previous article within the "Multiple indicators on one chart" we considered the basic code which allows using more than one indicator in a chart subwindow. But what was presented was just the starting base of a much larger system.
An example of how to ensemble ONNX models in MQL5
ONNX (Open Neural Network eXchange) is an open format built to represent neural networks. In this article, we will show how to use two ONNX models in one Expert Advisor simultaneously.
How we developed the MetaTrader Signals service and Social Trading
We continue to enhance the Signals service, improve the mechanisms, add new functions and fix flaws. The MetaTrader Signals Service of 2012 and the current MetaTrader Signals Service are like two completely different services. Currently, we are implementing A Virtual Hosting Cloud service which consists of a network of servers to support specific versions of the MetaTrader client terminal.
Multiple indicators on one chart (Part 05): Turning MetaTrader 5 into a RAD system (I)
There are a lot of people who do not know how to program but they are quite creative and have great ideas. However, the lack of programming knowledge prevents them from implementing these ideas. Let's see together how to create a Chart Trade using the MetaTrader 5 platform itself, as if it were an IDE.
Data Science and Machine Learning (Part 12): Can Self-Training Neural Networks Help You Outsmart the Stock Market?
Are you tired of constantly trying to predict the stock market? Do you wish you had a crystal ball to help you make more informed investment decisions? Self-trained neural networks might be the solution you've been looking for. In this article, we explore whether these powerful algorithms can help you "ride the wave" and outsmart the stock market. By analyzing vast amounts of data and identifying patterns, self-trained neural networks can make predictions that are often more accurate than human traders. Discover how you can use this cutting-edge technology to maximize your profits and make smarter investment decisions.
Category Theory (Part 9): Monoid-Actions
This article continues the series on category theory implementation in MQL5. Here we continue monoid-actions as a means of transforming monoids, covered in the previous article, leading to increased applications.
The Random Sandbox
The article includes an interactive "sandbox" as an Excel file which simulates randomized Expert Advisor backtest data. Readers can use this to help explore and more deeply understand the EA performance metrics offered by default with MetaTrader. The text of the article is designed to guide the user through this experience.
Neural networks made easy (Part 32): Distributed Q-Learning
We got acquainted with the Q-learning method in one of the earlier articles within this series. This method averages rewards for each action. Two works were presented in 2017, which show greater success when studying the reward distribution function. Let's consider the possibility of using such technology to solve our problems.
DoEasy. Controls (Part 3): Creating bound controls
In this article, I will create subordinate controls bound to the base element. The development will be performed using the base control functionality. In addition, I will tinker with the graphical element shadow object a bit since it still suffers from some logic errors when applied to any of the objects capable of having a shadow.
Expert Advisors Based on Popular Trading Strategies and Alchemy of Trading Robot Optimization (Part VI)
In this article, the author proposes the way of improving trading systems presented in his previous articles. The article is of interest for traders already having experiences in writing Expert Advisors.
Neural networks made easy (Part 15): Data clustering using MQL5
We continue to consider the clustering method. In this article, we will create a new CKmeans class to implement one of the most common k-means clustering methods. During tests, the model managed to identify about 500 patterns.
Structures in MQL5 and methods for printing their data
In this article we will look at the MqlDateTime, MqlTick, MqlRates and MqlBookInfo strutures, as well as methods for printing data from them. In order to print all the fields of a structure, there is a standard ArrayPrint() function, which displays the data contained in the array with the type of the handled structure in a convenient tabular format.
Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 28): Towards the future (III)
There is still one task which our order system is not up to, but we will FINALLY figure it out. The MetaTrader 5 provides a system of tickets which allows creating and correcting order values. The idea is to have an Expert Advisor that would make the same ticket system faster and more efficient.
MQL5 Wizard techniques you should know (Part 03): Shannon's Entropy
Todays trader is a philomath who is almost always looking up new ideas, trying them out, choosing to modify them or discard them; an exploratory process that should cost a fair amount of diligence. These series of articles will proposition that the MQL5 wizard should be a mainstay for traders.
Forecasting with ARIMA models in MQL5
In this article we continue the development of the CArima class for building ARIMA models by adding intuitive methods that enable forecasting.
Multibot in MetaTrader (Part II): Improved dynamic template
Developing the theme of the previous article, I decided to create a more flexible and functional template that has greater capabilities and can be effectively used both in freelancing and as a base for developing multi-currency and multi-period EAs with the ability to integrate with external solutions.
Parallel Particle Swarm Optimization
The article describes a method of fast optimization using the particle swarm algorithm. It also presents the method implementation in MQL, which is ready for use both in single-threaded mode inside an Expert Advisor and in a parallel multi-threaded mode as an add-on that runs on local tester agents.
MQL5 Market Results for Q2 2013
Successfully operating for 1.5 years, MQL5 Market has become the largest traders' store of trading strategies and technical indicators. It offers around 800 trading applications provided by 350 developers from around the world. Over 100.000 trading programs have already been purchased and downloaded by traders to their MetaTrader 5 terminals.
Developing a trading Expert Advisor from scratch (Part 9): A conceptual leap (II)
In this article, we will place Chart Trade in a floating window. In the previous part, we created a basic system which enables the use of templates within a floating window.
Timeseries in DoEasy library (part 47): Multi-period multi-symbol standard indicators
In this article, I will start developing the methods of working with standard indicators, which will ultimately allow creating multi-symbol multi-period standard indicators based on library classes. Besides, I will add the "Skipped bars" event to the timeseries classes and eliminate excessive load from the main program code by moving the library preparation functions to CEngine class.
How to Integrate Smart Money Concepts (BOS) Coupled with the RSI Indicator into an EA
Smart Money Concept (Break Of Structure) coupled with the RSI Indicator to make in informed automated trading decisions based on the market structure.
MQL5 Cookbook — Macroeconomic events database
The article discusses the possibilities of handling databases based on the SQLite engine. The CDatabase class has been formed for convenience and efficient use of OOP principles. It is subsequently involved in the creation and management of the database of macroeconomic events. The article provides the examples of using multiple methods of the CDatabase class.
Creating an EA that works automatically (Part 10): Automation (II)
Automation means nothing if you cannot control its schedule. No worker can be efficient working 24 hours a day. However, many believe that an automated system should operate 24 hours a day. But it is always good to have means to set a working time range for the EA. In this article, we will consider how to properly set such a time range.
Automated grid trading using limit orders on Moscow Exchange (MOEX)
The article considers the development of an MQL5 Expert Advisor (EA) for MetaTrader 5 aimed at working on MOEX. The EA is to follow a grid strategy while trading on MOEX using MetaTrader 5 terminal. The EA involves closing positions by stop loss and take profit, as well as removing pending orders in case of certain market conditions.
Neural networks made easy (Part 21): Variational autoencoders (VAE)
In the last article, we got acquainted with the Autoencoder algorithm. Like any other algorithm, it has its advantages and disadvantages. In its original implementation, the autoenctoder is used to separate the objects from the training sample as much as possible. This time we will talk about how to deal with some of its disadvantages.
Developing a Replay System — Market simulation (Part 21): FOREX (II)
We will continue to build a system for working in the FOREX market. In order to solve this problem, we must first declare the loading of ticks before loading the previous bars. This solves the problem, but at the same time forces the user to follow some structure in the configuration file, which, personally, does not make much sense to me. The reason is that by designing a program that is responsible for analyzing and executing what is in the configuration file, we can allow the user to declare the elements he needs in any order.