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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Self-adapting algorithm (Part IV): Additional functionality and tests
I continue filling the algorithm with the minimum necessary functionality and testing the results. The profitability is quite low but the articles demonstrate the model of the fully automated profitable trading on completely different instruments traded on fundamentally different markets.
Multilayer perceptron and backpropagation algorithm (Part II): Implementation in Python and integration with MQL5
There is a Python package available for developing integrations with MQL, which enables a plethora of opportunities such as data exploration, creation and use of machine learning models. The built in Python integration in MQL5 enables the creation of various solutions, from simple linear regression to deep learning models. Let's take a look at how to set up and prepare a development environment and how to use use some of the machine learning libraries.
Graphical Interfaces VII: the Tables Controls (Chapter 1)
The seventh part of the series on MetaTrader graphical interfaces deals with three table types: text label, edit box and rendered one. Another important and frequently used controls are tabs allowing you to show/hide groups of other controls and develop space effective interfaces in your MQL applications.
Multicurrency monitoring of trading signals (Part 5): Composite signals
In the fifth article related to the creation of a trading signal monitor, we will consider composite signals and will implement the necessary functionality. In earlier versions, we used simple signals, such as RSI, WPR and CCI, and we also introduced the possibility to use custom indicators.
The correct way to choose an Expert Advisor from the Market
In this article, we will consider some of the essential points you should pay attention to when purchasing an Expert Advisor. We will also look for ways to increase profit, to spend money wisely, and to earn from this spending. Also, after reading the article, you will see that it is possible to earn even using simple and free products.
MQL5-RPC. Remote Procedure Calls from MQL5: Web Service Access and XML-RPC ATC Analyzer for Fun and Profit
This article describes MQL5-RPC framework that enables Remote Procedure Calls from MQL5. It starts with XML-RPC basics, MQL5 implementation and follows with two real usage examples. First example is using external web service and the second one is a client to simple XML-RPC ATC 2011 Analyzer service. If you are interested on how to implement and analyze different statistics from ATC 2011 in real time, this article is just for you.
MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 Trading Signals Widgets
Recently MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 user received an opportunity to become a Signals Provider and earn additional profit. Now, you can display your trading success on your web site, blog or social network page using the new widgets. The benefits of using widgets are obvious: they increase the Signals Providers' popularity, establish their reputation as successful traders, as well as attract new Subscribers. All traders placing widgets on other web sites can enjoy these benefits.
MQL5 Cookbook: Developing a Multi-Symbol Volatility Indicator in MQL5
In this article, we will consider the development of a multi-symbol volatility indicator. The development of multi-symbol indicators may present some difficulties for novice MQL5 developers which this article helps to clarify. The major issues arising in the course of development of a multi-symbol indicator have to do with the synchronization of other symbols' data with respect to the current symbol, the lack of some indicator data and the identification of the beginning of 'true' bars of a given time frame. All of these issues will be closely considered in the article.
Probability theory and mathematical statistics with examples (part I): Fundamentals and elementary theory
Trading is always about making decisions in the face of uncertainty. This means that the results of the decisions are not quite obvious at the time these decisions are made. This entails the importance of theoretical approaches to the construction of mathematical models allowing us to describe such cases in meaningful manner.
Larry Williams Market Secrets (Part 2): Automating a Market Structure Trading System
Learn how to automate Larry Williams market structure concepts in MQL5 by building a complete Expert Advisor that reads swing points, generates trade signals, manages risk, and applies a dynamic trailing stop strategy.
Interview with Dmitry Terentew (ATC 2012)
Is it really necessary to be a programmer to develop trading robots? Do we need to spend years monitoring price charts to be able to "feel" the market? All these issues have been discussed in our interview with Dmitry Terentew (SAFF), whose trading robot has been occupying the first page of the Championship from the very beginning.
Learn how to design a trading system by Bear's Power
Welcome to a new article in our series about learning how to design a trading system by the most popular technical indicator here is a new article about learning how to design a trading system by Bear's Power technical indicator.
The Order of Object Creation and Destruction in MQL5
Every object, whether it is a custom object, a dynamic array or an array of objects, is created and deleted in MQL5-program in its particular way. Often, some objects are part of other objects, and the order of object deleting at deinitialization becomes especially important. This article provides some examples that cover the mechanisms of working with objects.
Price Action Analysis Toolkit Development (Part 43): Candlestick Probability and Breakouts
Enhance your market analysis with the MQL5-native Candlestick Probability EA, a lightweight tool that transforms raw price bars into real-time, instrument-specific probability insights. It classifies Pinbars, Engulfing, and Doji patterns at bar close, uses ATR-aware filtering, and optional breakout confirmation. The EA calculates raw and volume-weighted follow-through percentages, helping you understand each pattern's typical outcome on specific symbols and timeframes. On-chart markers, a compact dashboard, and interactive toggles allow easy validation and focus. Export detailed CSV logs for offline testing. Use it to develop probability profiles, optimize strategies, and turn pattern recognition into a measurable edge.
Library for easy and quick development of MetaTrader programs (part II). Collection of historical orders and deals
In the first part, we started creating a large cross-platform library simplifying the development of programs for MetaTrader 5 and MetaTrader 4 platforms. We created the COrder abstract object which is a base object for storing data on history orders and deals, as well as on market orders and positions. Now we will develop all the necessary objects for storing account history data in collections.
What is a trend and is the market structure based on trend or flat?
Traders often talk about trends and flats but very few of them really understand what a trend/flat really is and even fewer are able to clearly explain these concepts. Discussing these basic terms is often beset by a solid set of prejudices and misconceptions. However, if we want to make profit, we need to understand the mathematical and logical meaning of these concepts. In this article, I will take a closer look at the essence of trend and flat, as well as try to define whether the market structure is based on trend, flat or something else. I will also consider the most optimal strategies for making profit on trend and flat markets.
Design Patterns in software development and MQL5 (Part 4): Behavioral Patterns 2
In this article, we will complete our series about the Design Patterns topic, we mentioned that there are three types of design patterns creational, structural, and behavioral. We will complete the remaining patterns of the behavioral type which can help set the method of interaction between objects in a way that makes our code clean.
Combination scalping: analyzing trades from the past to increase the performance of future trades
The article provides the description of the technology aimed at increasing the effectiveness of any automated trading system. It provides a brief explanation of the idea, as well as its underlying basics, possibilities and disadvantages.
Cross-Platform Expert Advisor: The CExpertAdvisor and CExpertAdvisors Classes
This article deals primarily with the classes CExpertAdvisor and CExpertAdvisors, which serve as the container for all the other components described in this article-series regarding cross-platform expert advisors.
MQL5 Cookbook: The History of Deals And Function Library for Getting Position Properties
It is time to briefly summarize the information provided in the previous articles on position properties. In this article, we will create a few additional functions to get the properties that can only be obtained after accessing the history of deals. We will also get familiar with data structures that will allow us to access position and symbol properties in a more convenient way.
Timeseries in DoEasy library (part 35): Bar object and symbol timeseries list
This article starts a new series about the creation of the DoEasy library for easy and fast program development. In the current article, we will implement the library functionality for accessing and working with symbol timeseries data. We are going to create the Bar object storing the main and extended timeseries bar data, and place bar objects to the timeseries list for convenient search and sorting of the objects.
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.
Universal Expert Advisor: the Event Model and Trading Strategy Prototype (Part 2)
This article continues the series of publications on a universal Expert Advisor model. This part describes in detail the original event model based on centralized data processing, and considers the structure of the CStrategy base class of the engine.
Modified Grid-Hedge EA in MQL5 (Part I): Making a Simple Hedge EA
We will be creating a simple hedge EA as a base for our more advanced Grid-Hedge EA, which will be a mixture of classic grid and classic hedge strategies. By the end of this article, you will know how to create a simple hedge strategy, and you will also get to know what people say about whether this strategy is truly 100% profitable.
MQL5 Cookbook: Development of a Multi-Symbol Indicator to Analyze Price Divergence
In this article, we will consider the development of a multi-symbol indicator to analyze price divergence in a specified period of time. The core topics have been already discussed in the previous article on the programming of multi-currency indicators "MQL5 Cookbook: Developing a Multi-Symbol Volatility Indicator in MQL5". So this time we will dwell only on those new features and functions that have been changed dramatically. If you are new to the programming of multi-currency indicators, I recommend you to first read the previous article.
Neural Networks Cheap and Cheerful - Link NeuroPro with MetaTrader 5
If specific neural network programs for trading seem expensive and complex or, on the contrary, too simple, try NeuroPro. It is free and contains the optimal set of functionalities for amateurs. This article will tell you how to use it in conjunction with MetaTrader 5.
Another MQL5 OOP Class
This article shows you how to build an Object-Oriented Expert Advisor from scratch, from conceiving a theoretical trading idea to programming a MQL5 EA that makes that idea real in the empirical world. Learning by doing is IMHO a solid approach to succeed, so I am showing a practical example in order for you to see how you can order your ideas to finally code your Forex robots. My goal is also to invite you to adhere the OO principles.
Simulink: a Guide for the Developers of Expert Advisors
I am not a professional programmer. And thus, the principle of "going from the simple to the complex" is of primary importance to me when I am working on trading system development. What exactly is simple for me? First of all, it is the visualization of the process of creating the system, and the logic of its work. Also, it is a minimum of handwritten code. In this article, I will attempt to create and test the trading system, based on a Matlab package, and then write an Expert Advisor for MetaTrader 5. The historical data from MetaTrader 5 will be used for the testing process.
Cross-Platform Expert Advisor: Introduction
This article details a method by which cross-platform expert advisors can be developed faster and easier. The proposed method consolidates the features shared by both versions into a single class, and splits the implementation on derived classes for incompatible features.
Sorting methods and their visualization using MQL5
The Graphic.mqh library has been designed to work with graphics in MQL5. The article provides an example of its practical application and explains the idea of sorting. The general concept of sorting is described here since each type of sorting already has at least one separate article, while some of sorting types are objects of detailed studies.
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.
Liquid Chart
Would you like to see an hourly chart with bars opening from the second and the fifth minute of the hour? What does a redrawn chart look like when the opening time of bars is changing every minute? What advantages does trading on such charts have? You will find answers to these questions in this article.
Applying OLAP in trading (part 3): Analyzing quotes for the development of trading strategies
In this article we will continue dealing with the OLAP technology applied to trading. We will expand the functionality presented in the first two articles. This time we will consider the operational analysis of quotes. We will put forward and test the hypotheses on trading strategies based on aggregated historical data. The article presents Expert Advisors for studying bar patterns and adaptive trading.
MQL5 Integration: Python
Python is a well-known and popular programming language with many features, especially in the fields of finance, data science, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning. Python is a powerful tool that can be useful in trading as well. MQL5 allows us to use this powerful language as an integration to get our objectives done effectively. In this article, we will share how we can use Python as an integration in MQL5 after learning some basic information about Python.
Multiple indicators on one chart (Part 01): Understanding the concepts
Today we will learn how to add multiple indicators running simultaneously on one chart, but without occupying a separate area on it. Many traders feel more confident if they monitor multiple indicators at a time (for example, RSI, STOCASTIC, MACD, ADX and some others), or in some cases even at different assets which an index is made of.
Finding seasonal patterns in the forex market using the CatBoost algorithm
The article considers the creation of machine learning models with time filters and discusses the effectiveness of this approach. The human factor can be eliminated now by simply instructing the model to trade at a certain hour of a certain day of the week. Pattern search can be provided by a separate algorithm.
Can Heiken-Ashi Combined With Moving Averages Provide Good Signals Together?
Combinations of strategies may offer better opportunities. We can combine indicators or patterns together, or even better, indicators with patterns, so that we get an extra confirmation factor. Moving averages help us confirm and ride the trend. They are the most known technical indicators and this is because of their simplicity and their proven track record of adding value to analyses.
LifeHack for Traders: Indicators of Balance, Drawdown, Load and Ticks during Testing
How to make the testing process more visual? The answer is simple: you need to use one or more indicators in the Strategy Tester, including a tick indicator, an indicator of balance and equity, an indicator of drawdown and deposit load. This solution will help you visually track the nature of ticks, balance and equity changes, as well as drawdown and deposit load.
Create your own Market Watch using the Standard Library Classes
The new MetaTrader 5 client terminal and the MQL5 Language provides new opportunities for presenting visual information to the trader. In this article, we propose a universal and extensible set of classes, which handles all the work of organizing displaying of the arbitrary text information on the chart. The example of Market Watch indicator is presented.
Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 9): Building an Expert Advisor for the Asian Breakout Strategy
In this article, we build an Expert Advisor in MQL5 for the Asian Breakout Strategy by calculating the session's high and low and applying trend filtering with a moving average. We implement dynamic object styling, user-defined time inputs, and robust risk management. Finally, we demonstrate backtesting and optimization techniques to refine the program.