Discussing the article: "MQL5 Expert Advisor Builder (Part 1): A Simple Static Template"

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Check out the new article: MQL5 Expert Advisor Builder (Part 1): A Simple Static Template.

The article examines an example of a multipurpose trading robot template that is suitable both for creating your own strategies and as a codebase for freelance work. A key feature of the solution is bar-based trading; the code already includes built-in modes for averaging, martingale, and holding positions for extended periods. This material will be most useful to beginners who want to develop their own simple strategies or learn about common trading techniques.

After writing a significant amount of code in MQL5, you come to realize that many algorithms, approaches, and local solutions are very similar, if not identical. So why keep writing the same thing over and over in different ways when it can all be standardized into a common framework, saving time on writing new trading strategies? The question is, in fact, rhetorical—but not for everyone.

By asking ourselves this question and generalizing the core algorithms we use in our solutions, we can arrive at a template-based approach and save as much time as possible when writing Expert Advisors (EAs). This can be achieved by creating a set of templates that can be applied to a fairly wide range of solutions. By combining these templates, you can not only speed up and standardize your solutions but also develop the habit of creating more and more similar templates, thereby covering a wider range of solutions.

I arrived at this paradigm after repeatedly performing the same actions across different Expert Advisors (EAs): loading historical data, checking for a new bar, opening and closing positions, and accounting for commission and swap. Obviously, it makes sense to set this up as a template once and then simply plug in different entry and exit logic. A simple static template is like an exoskeleton for your trading signal: you decide "when to enter" and "when to exit," and the template takes care of everything else. Of course, such templates aren't a cure-all for every problem, but they can still solve a significant portion of the typical challenges faced by beginner and intermediate traders. This same approach serves as the foundation for more complex templates—multi-timeframe, diversified, and others that emerge as the concept evolves; these will be discussed in the following articles in this series. First, a solid foundation.

Author: Evgeniy Ilin