MQL5 ReferenceLanguage BasicsData TypesInteger Types

Integer Types

In MQL5 integers are represented by eleven types. Some types can be used together with other ones, if required by the program logic, but in this case it's necessary to remember the rules of typecasting.

The table below lists the characteristics of each type. Besides, the last column features a type in C++ corresponding to each type.

Type	Size in Bytes	Minimum Value	Maximum Value	C++ Analog
char	1	-128	127	char
uchar	1	0	255	unsigned char, BYTE
bool	1	0(false)	1(true)	bool
short	2	-32 768	32 767	short, wchar_t
ushort	2	0	65 535	unsigned short, WORD
int	4	- 2 147 483 648	2 147 483 647	int
uint	4	0	4 294 967 295	unsigned int, DWORD
color	4	-1	16 777 215	int, COLORREF
long	8	-9 223 372 036 854 775 808	9 223 372 036 854 775 807	__int64
ulong	8	0	18 446 744 073 709 551 615	unsigned __int64
datetime	8	0 (1970.01.01 0:00:00)	32 535 244 799 (3000.12.31 23:59:59)	__time64_t

Integer type values can also be presented as numeric constants, color literals, date-time literals, character constants and enumerations.

Additional integer type aliases (for C/C++ compatibility)

To simplify the porting of code from other languages, such as C and C++, aliases for standard integer types were added to the MQL5 language. These aliases do not introduce new types, but are alternative names for existing types in MQL5. They can be used in all contexts where base types are applicable.

Type	Corresponds to MQL5 type	Size in Bytes	Sign	Minimum Value	Maximum Value
int8_t	char	8	signed	-128	127
uint8_t	uchar	8	unsigned	0	255
int16_t	short	16	signed	-32 768	32 767
uint16_t	ushort	16	unsigned	0	65 535
int32_t	int	32	signed	- 2 147 483 648	2 147 483 647
uint32_t	uint	32	unsigned	0	4 294 967 295
int64_t	long	64	signed	-9 223 372 036 854 775 808	9 223 372 036 854 775 807
uint64_t	ulong	64	unsigned	0	18 446 744 073 709 551 615

These aliases are useful when porting existing libraries and algorithms from C/C++ to MQL5, especially in projects with a high level of platform compatibility. All new names are available in scripts, EAs and indicators.