New article: Graphical Interfaces I: Preparation of the Library Structure (Chapter 1)

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New article Graphical Interfaces I: Preparation of the Library Structure (Chapter 1) has been published on mql5.com:

This article is the beginning of another series concerning development of graphical interfaces. Currently, there is not a single code library that would allow quick and easy creation of high quality graphical interfaces within MQL applications. By that, I mean the graphical interfaces that we are used to in familiar operating systems.

What will the reader gain after reading these articles?

• The aim of this project is to create ultimately intuitive interfaces for the end user. Developers of those user interfaces will be provided with an easy to study and use code library, which can be developed further.
• Those developers, who are just starting to make the first steps in implementing large scale projects using object oriented methods or starting to learn object-oriented programming, will find specific material for studying with a lot of examples from the beginning to the implementation.
• More experienced developers will find one more implementation of a library for graphical user interfaces so they can start to realize their ideas. It is good when there is a choice.
• Those professionals who can create such libraries and are likely to have similar libraries can criticize and challenge the suggested implementation. They may be able to suggest a more suitable and efficient approach to the implementation of such projects, which is going to be interesting for less experienced readers. Such discussions are sometimes as interesting as the article itself.

I called the narration method used in this series of articles "an attempted imitation of ideal sequence". Often, in the process of real life large scale project development, sequential order of actions and the line of thinking are more chaotic and consist of many experiments, trial and error. Here, we will skip all those complications. For those who come across projects of this scale for the first time, it is recommended to repeat all the actions for a better understanding of the material, when studying this library, and the process of its development. The articles of this series give an opportunity to present the train of thought in the ideal sequence when all the answers to the majority of questions are already present and all parts of the project are created as required.

Fig. 5. Inclusion into the project of the classes for storing pointers and event handling

Author: Anatoli Kazharski