New MetaTrader 4 Platform build 1031 - page 8

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Ok folks, I'm new to this forum ( just arriving from the ProRealTime world -:).


As a newbie, my ultimate goal is of course to learn the execution language but...it seems that I fell in the middle of a maelstrom ( a major language migration period, oh no !..)

To summarize it, I'm bound to my broker ( IG ) who offers only the MT4 1031 version to its client so far. The funny thing is that all the documentation and references in the MT4/1031 help panel leads me to MT5 resources on the web, therefore I'm wondering if I should learn MT4 or MT5 to run my first scripts or EA's on the MT4/1031 version ? I'm not even sure that MT5 scripts would really compile and work...

 

What would be your advice, gentlemen ?

 

Best regards !

 

J. 

 

If your broker currently offered MT5 I'd say start with MQL5 unless you have pressing reasons why you can't (see below). But, it appears they don't.

In general terms, there is:

  • old MQL4 - a lot of educational material and code is written in this and hasn't been updated. It can be difficult to differentiate "old" from "new" without some experience.
  • new MQL4 - from Build 600 onwards. Broadly similar to MQL5 but with some notable differences.
  • MQL5
You can write MQL4 to be mostly compatible with MQL5. You would just compile a different version for each platform.

Some of the notable differences are:

  • If you want to use Renko / Range / Tick charts or unusual custom timeframes you are probably better with MQL4 at the moment. Note: neither MT4 or MT5 support these natively
  • Trade functions are handled differently between MQL4 and MQL5
  • Custom indicator calls are made differently between MQL4 and MQL5
  • Certain functions are only available in one or the other language. However, almost always you will find a method common to both.
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