Better Programmer (Part 04): How to become a faster developer

Omega J Msigwa | 25 August, 2021

Introduction

Faster development is every developer's dream. Nobody wants to develop a program or a piece of code the whole week or spend too many hours, if not days trying to figure things out when we get stuck in the coding process.

Every coder wants to be faster

• Maybe you watched MQL5 coding video on YouTube that was hard to follow along because you are too slow to catch up with the instructor's speed and you wish to get to that level for yourself.
• Maybe you've seen some developers with magnificent coding speed on the keyboard, they can write a complex algorithm in few minutes that might take you hours if not days to code.
• Or maybe you would like to be able to code faster and effectively so that you can deliver jobs faster on the Freelance and be ahead of your competitors.
• Or maybe you want to impress your spouse/partner by your superman abilities on the keyboard, being able to code with less or no bugs, complex algorithm in a small amount of time.
  
• Sometimes you might want to be able to deliver fast updates to products on the Market and fix bugs and errors that your customers have been spamming you on your Email or MQL5 message Inbox.

You don't need any of these to get to your maximum coding speed potential

• Extensive coding experience
• Best mechanical keyboard
• To be good at muscle memory keyboard typing
• Many gigabytes of RAM, many cores, powerful GPU on your personal computer(PC)

Faster Developer Vs Faster Coder

HOW TO BECOME FASTER AS A DEVELOPER

01: Avoid bugs and bad architecture

Developers think that they spend a lot of time writing code but in reality, we spend most of our time reading code, debugging, and figuring out what to do.

It might take you three hours to debug a piece of code that you coded for 30 minutes, so the more bugs you have the longer it will take you to finish coding your project. Now you know that bugs slow our development process. So, the best thing for us to do is to avoid them as soon as possible.

Bad Architecture + Bugs = it's about the end of the world (just kidding)

Having bugs in your project is bad but failing to debug it or spot them easily just because of bad architecture is even worse. Just look at this piece of code taken from an EA that I was given by someone to fix the bugs.

ouble NPB=ND(m_account.Balance()*PortionPC,2);
if(CbT==0||PortChange<0||(PortChange>0&&NPB>PortionBalance))PortionBalance=NPB;
if(Pb+Ph<0)DrawDownPC=-(Pb+Ph)/PortionBalance;
if(!FirstRun&&DrawDownPC>=MaxDDPercent/100)
{       ET(A,displayColorLoss,"Equity Stop Loss Reached");
        if(PlaySounds)PlaySound(AlertSound);
        return(0);
}
if(-(Pb+Ph)>MaxDD)MaxDD=-(Pb+Ph);
MaxDDPer=MathMax(MaxDDPer,DrawDownPC*100);
if(SaveStats)Stats(false,TimeCurrent()<NextStats,PortionBalance,Pb+Ph);

//+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
//|                                                                 |
//+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
double StepAB=InitialAB*(1+StopTradePercent),StepSTB=m_accout.Balance()*(1-StopTradePercent), NextISTB=StepAB*(1-StopTradePercent);
if(StepSTB>NextISTB){   InitialAB=StepAB;
        StopTradeBalance=StepSTB;       }
        
double InitPortion=StopTradeBalance*PortionPC;
if(PortionBalance<InitPortion)
{       if(CbT==0)
 {      AllowTrading=false;
        if(PlaySounds)PlaySound(AlertSound);
        Print("Portion Balance dropped below stop trade percent");
        MessageBox("Reset EA, account balance dropped below stop trade percent on "+Symbol()+Period()," Warning",48);
        return(0); }
        else if(!ShutDown&&!RecoupClosedLoss)
        {       ShutDown=true; if(PlaySounds)PlaySound(AlertSound);
                Print("Portion Balance dropped below stop trade percent");
                return(0);              }
}

#include <Trade\AccountInfo.mqh> //Class for working with trade account properties
#include <Trade\SymbolInfo.mqh>  //Class for working with trade instrument properties
#include <Trade\OrderInfo.mqh>   //Class for working with pending order properties
#include <Trade\OrderHistoryInfo.mqh>  //Class for working with history order properties
#include <Trade\PositionInfo.mqh>   //Class for working with open position properties
#include <Trade\DealInfo.mqh>       //Class for working with history deal properties
#include <Trade\Trade.mqh>          //Class for trade operations execution
#include <Trade\TerminalInfo.mqh>   //Class for getting the properties of the terminal environment
//--- 
CAccountInfo       ac;
CSymbolInfo        symb;
COrderInfo         orders;
CHistoryOrderInfo  hist_orders;
CPositionInfo      pos;
CDealInfo          _clos;
CTrade             my_trade;
CTerminalInfo      info;

Instead, reference all the libraries in a consistent easy to understand manner and the best way to do it is to reference it in Class member format of reference  m_*** -stands for members of a certain class

just like this,

#include <Trade\AccountInfo.mqh> //Class for working with trade account properties
#include <Trade\SymbolInfo.mqh>  //Class for working with trade instrument properties
#include <Trade\OrderInfo.mqh>   //Class for working with pending order properties
#include <Trade\OrderHistoryInfo.mqh>  //Class for working with history order properties
#include <Trade\PositionInfo.mqh>   //Class for working with open position properties
#include <Trade\DealInfo.mqh>       //Class for working with history deal properties
#include <Trade\Trade.mqh>          //Class for trade operations execution
#include <Trade\TerminalInfo.mqh>   //Class for getting the properties of the terminal environment
//--- 
CAccountInfo       m_account;  //members of account info
CSymbolInfo        m_symbol;   //members of symbolInfo
COrderInfo         m_order;    //mambers of OrderInfo
CHistoryOrderInfo  m_orderhistory; //members of Orderhistory info
CPositionInfo      m_position; //members of position info
CDealInfo          m_deal;     //members of deal info
CTrade             m_trade;    //members of trade info
CTerminalInfo      m_terminal; //members of terminal info

double SymbolAsk(string symbol)
{
        if (symbol == "") symbol = Symbol();

        return SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_ASK);
}

double SymbolBid(string symbol)
{
        if (symbol == "") symbol = Symbol();

        return SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_BID);
}

int SymbolDigits(string symbol)
{
        if (symbol == "") symbol = Symbol();

        return (int)SymbolInfoInteger(symbol, SYMBOL_DIGITS);
}

double SymbolLotSize(string symbol)
{
        if (symbol == "") symbol = Symbol();

        return SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_TRADE_CONTRACT_SIZE);
}

double SymbolLotStep(string symbol)
{
        if (symbol == "") symbol = Symbol();

        return SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_VOLUME_STEP);
}

double SymbolMaxLot(string symbol)
{
        if (symbol == "") symbol = Symbol();

        return SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_VOLUME_MAX);
}

double SymbolMinLot(string symbol)
{
        if (symbol == "") symbol = Symbol();

        return SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_VOLUME_MIN);

}

#include <Trade\SymbolInfo.mqh>
CSymbolInfo   m_symbol; 

input string Input_symbol = "EURUSD";
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| Expert initialization function                                   |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
int OnInit()
  {
//---
     string symbol = Input_symbol=="" ? Symbol() : Input_symbol;
      m_symbol.Name(symbol); //Sets symbol name for our CSymbolInfo class object
//---
   return(INIT_SUCCEEDED);
  } 
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| Expert tick function                                             |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
void OnTick()
  {
//---
      m_symbol.RefreshRates(); //Refresh to Get the Last quote 
      double    SymbolAsk = m_symbol.Ask();
      double    SymbolBid = m_symbol.Bid();
      double    SymbolDigits = m_symbol.Digits();
      double    SymbolLotSize = m_symbol.ContractSize();
      double    SymbolLotStep = m_symbol.LotsStep();
      double    SymbolMaxLot = m_symbol.LotsMax();
      double    SymbolMinLot = m_symbol.LotsMin();
  }

Standard library users are 3X+ more productive than non-users and not to mention they have less code in their programs which means fewer bugs.

04: Avoid convoluted code

I hope in your coding career you have seen something like the code below in somebody's EA

        if(LbT>0)
        {       BEb=ND(BEb/LbT,Digits());
                if(BCa<0)BEb-=ND(BCa/PipVal2/(LbB-LbS),Digits());
                if(Pb>PbMax||PbMax==0)PbMax=Pb;
                if(Pb<PbMin||PbMin==0)PbMin=Pb;
                if(!TradesOpen)
                {       FileHandle=FileOpen(FileName,FILE_BIN|FILE_WRITE);
                        if(FileHandle>-1)
                        {       FileWriteInteger(FileHandle,TbF);
                                FileClose(FileHandle);
                                TradesOpen=true;
                                if(Debug)Print(FileName+" File Written: "+TbF);
                        }
                }
        }

It might be easy the moment you write this block of code but it won't be easy to read it the moment you want to debug it, chances are high you will forget some of the variables if not all of them so you will have to start referring to them again. Just think how time-wasting that activity is!

Forcing all logic to appear in one place is disgusting, wanting to have too many operations in a single function will slow our development process since we have to carefully arrange our code and make sure everything works as well.

If you need certain kinds of operations, consider creating independent functions which can do it only so that it'll be easy for you to finish one thing then move on to the other.

05: Avoid distractions.

Keep your phone on silent (if not turning it off at all) and do not pull it up to check your likes and shares on your Social Media photos. You will be so ineffective if you do so. If you are in a noisy disturbing home then find a place to go sit and finish your project.

I think this is the biggest challenge that we have to overcome as developers in the modern world where you are one click away from seductive beautiful models on Instagram and cute cat videos on Snapchat.

It's not that I'm against the breaks and chilling with friends no don't get me wrong, I do not code 24/7 though I got too many MQL5 and web developing projects waiting for me. But I believe that everybody should stick to a schedule that works for them. If it's not time to check social media, do not do so. If it's coding time stick to that only until the end of the session (no matter how confusing or tough things get) I'd rather prefer to extend coding sessions if I had nothing important to do after that.

06: Reading documentation and Learning

This is how we learned everything we know by doing it over and over again slowly until it becomes second nature. Our memory in our brains is limited and will only keep what we regularly use, so if we want to retain something in our mind we should do it regularly. We should learn to use this to our advantage.

How?

Since one of the reasons causing us to be slow is our ignorance on that particular subject, we should always look for areas that we need to improve, (some of them are discussed in this Article) once we found those areas we should continuously strive to improve in those areas until we become exceptionally good. This goes well when trying to learn and master a particular skill such as Machine Learning, Self Adaptive Algorithms, etc.

08: Keyboard shortcuts and MetaEditor setup

Keyboard shortcuts are fun and can save you a lot of time when it comes to writing code on the keyboard. I'm a pro on this and I like it when it comes to teaching coders my productive keyboard shortcuts on MetaEditor.

Learning keyboard shortcuts is life-changing when it comes to typing code and I think using the keyboard instead of a mouse should be adopted by every developer since we spend most of our time on our keyboard so we need to be good at it.

Here are a few of my favorite shortcuts on a Window PC (For Mac and Linux ) I'm not so sure but Mac users can replace CTRL with COMMAND;

//--- Put a code separator to the next line

//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//|           Add this to the current line and the next two          |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+

// adds two forward slashes to the beginning of a line  

MetaEditor Setup

It is also important to have the best MetaEditor Setup that favors writing code faster. Let's look at some of the settings that I recommend everybody should try.

These boxes should be checked

• Insert () and closing }]" — this will help to avoid those (unexpected end of program, unbalanced parentheses) errors that might be difficult and to catch in too much line of code.
• Highlight matching brackets — this will remind you which function or which block you are in.
• Highlight current line — it might be confusing to get to where you were coding the last time, setting this option will help you get there quickly at glance or you have to do is keep scrolling the code and the current line will be highlighted.
  
• Clipboard history — for seeing your copy and paste history you will be able to copy different lines of code and access them easily.
  

09: Learn to Google

Note: The total amount of results is more than 98 million. 

See the web is full of garbage and time-wasting sites that if you are not careful you will end up wasting your time and your private data will be stolen by hackers. The search term is too vague to get the specific immediate result that we need. For us to get the results we want we need to be very clear and specific.

There are too many search tips for those wishing to go deeper on this subject I recommend watching this short video. I'm going to talk about two tips only. 

01: Specific site to search

There is no better place to get the solutions concerning MQL5 than MQL5.com whenever you do a google search consider MQL5.com as the site you want Google to search for your answers.

Add site:MQL5.com at the end of your search term, and this results of the search

Only 568 Results are returned this time all coming from MQL5.com (The site: URL) Commands google to only search in the specified site.

02: More specific

MQL5.com is still a vague site to search if you are very clear with what you want since it is a large site, There is a way that I always use for my self but It is not recommended by google but it works I've been using it ever-since, but the key here is you have to know which part of MQL5 you want your results to be prioritized for example Articles, Forum, Codebase, etc. You may prefer results from:

•  Article section if you want to learn deep about a subject.
•  Forum if you want a quick solution 
•  Codebase if you want to see what others coded before.

Search in this format MQl5 + followed by section + then a search term, example in this case 

MQL5 forum how to read an array in a binary file here is the result

This method is specific but still, we haven't commanded google to a specific site (The website you are currently in only), the best thing would be to add site:MQL5.com the final search term is now forum how to read an array in a binary file site:MQL5.com Google will return 399 results this time.

Conclusion

That's enough for this article, I'm still working on other tips to increase our programming speed and boost our productivity. There are more tips to come on the next articles since there are many of them. I recommend every coder to practice these habits and ways daily

Thanks for reading, I would like to hear some of the tips from you in the discussion section of this article.

Best Regards.