Programming Articles on MQL5.com

Neural network: Self-optimizing Expert Advisor

Is it possible to develop an Expert Advisor able to optimize position open and close conditions at regular intervals according to the code commands? What happens if we implement a neural network (multilayer perceptron) in the form of a module to analyze history and provide strategy? We can make the EA optimize a neural network monthly (weekly, daily or hourly) and continue its work afterwards. Thus, we can develop a self-optimizing EA.

Statistical Distributions in MQL5 - taking the best of R and making it faster

The functions for working with the basic statistical distributions implemented in the R language are considered. Those include the Cauchy, Weibull, normal, log-normal, logistic, exponential, uniform, gamma distributions, the central and noncentral beta, chi-squared, Fisher's F-distribution, Student's t-distribution, as well as the discrete binomial and negative binomial distributions, geometric, hypergeometric and Poisson distributions. There are functions for calculating theoretical moments of distributions, which allow to evaluate the degree of conformity of the real distribution to the modeled one.

Graphical Interfaces X: Updates for Easy And Fast Library (Build 3)

The next version of the Easy And Fast library (version 3) is presented in this article. Fixed certain flaws and added new features. More details further in the article.

The Easy Way to Evaluate a Signal: Trading Activity, Drawdown/Load and MFE/MAE Distribution Charts

Subscribers often search for an appropriate signal by analyzing the total growth on the signal provider's account, which is not a bad idea. However, it is also important to analyze potential risks of a particular trading strategy. In this article we will show a simple and efficient way to evaluate a Trading Signal based on its performance values.

Neural network: Self-optimizing Expert Advisor

Is it possible to develop an Expert Advisor able to optimize position open and close conditions at regular intervals according to the code commands? What happens if we implement a neural network (multilayer perceptron) in the form of a module to analyze history and provide strategy? We can make the EA optimize a neural network monthly (weekly, daily or hourly) and continue its work afterwards. Thus, we can develop a self-optimizing EA.

Statistical Distributions in MQL5 - taking the best of R and making it faster

The functions for working with the basic statistical distributions implemented in the R language are considered. Those include the Cauchy, Weibull, normal, log-normal, logistic, exponential, uniform, gamma distributions, the central and noncentral beta, chi-squared, Fisher's F-distribution, Student's t-distribution, as well as the discrete binomial and negative binomial distributions, geometric, hypergeometric and Poisson distributions. There are functions for calculating theoretical moments of distributions, which allow to evaluate the degree of conformity of the real distribution to the modeled one.

The Easy Way to Evaluate a Signal: Trading Activity, Drawdown/Load and MFE/MAE Distribution Charts

Subscribers often search for an appropriate signal by analyzing the total growth on the signal provider's account, which is not a bad idea. However, it is also important to analyze potential risks of a particular trading strategy. In this article we will show a simple and efficient way to evaluate a Trading Signal based on its performance values.

LifeHack for trader: "Quiet" optimization or Plotting trade distributions

Analysis of the trade history and plotting distribution charts of trading results in HTML depending on position entry time. The charts are displayed in three sections - by hours, by days of the week and by months.

MQL5 vs QLUA - Why trading operations in MQL5 are up to 28 times faster?

Have you ever wondered how quickly your order is delivered to the exchange, how fast it is executed, and how much time your terminal needs in order to receive the operation result? We have prepared a comparison of trading operation execution speed, because no one has ever measured these values using applications in MQL5 and QLUA.

Cross-Platform Expert Advisor: Orders

MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 uses different conventions in processing trade requests. This article discusses the possibility of using a class object that can be used to represent the trades processed by the server, in order for a cross-platform expert advisor to further work on them, regardless of the version of the trading platform and mode being used.

LifeHack for trader: "Quiet" optimization or Plotting trade distributions

Analysis of the trade history and plotting distribution charts of trading results in HTML depending on position entry time. The charts are displayed in three sections - by hours, by days of the week and by months.

Cross-Platform Expert Advisor: Orders

MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 uses different conventions in processing trade requests. This article discusses the possibility of using a class object that can be used to represent the trades processed by the server, in order for a cross-platform expert advisor to further work on them, regardless of the version of the trading platform and mode being used.

MQL5 Cookbook - Trading signals of moving channels

The article describes the process of developing and implementing a class for sending signals based on the moving channels. Each of the signal version is followed by a trading strategy with testing results. Classes of the Standard Library are used for creating derived classes.

How to quickly develop and debug a trading strategy in MetaTrader 5

Scalping automatic systems are rightfully regarded the pinnacle of algorithmic trading, but at the same time their code is the most difficult to write. In this article we will show how to build strategies based on analysis of incoming ticks using the built-in debugging tools and visual testing. Developing rules for entry and exit often require years of manual trading. But with the help of MetaTrader 5, you can quickly test any such strategy on real history.

How to copy signals using an EA by your rules?

When you subscribe to signals, such situation may occur: your trade account has a leverage of 1:100, the provider has a leverage of 1:500 and trades using the minimal lot, and your trade balances are virtually equal — but the copy ratio will comprise only 10% to 15%. This article describes how to increase the copy rate in such cases.

MQL5 Cookbook - Trading signals of moving channels

The article describes the process of developing and implementing a class for sending signals based on the moving channels. Each of the signal version is followed by a trading strategy with testing results. Classes of the Standard Library are used for creating derived classes.

Graphical Interfaces X: Updates for Easy And Fast Library (Build 2)

Since the publication of the previous article in the series, Easy And Fast library has received some new features. The library structure and code have been partially optimized slightly reducing CPU load. Some recurring methods in many control classes have been moved to the CElement base class.

How to copy signals using an EA by your rules?

When you subscribe to signals, such situation may occur: your trade account has a leverage of 1:100, the provider has a leverage of 1:500 and trades using the minimal lot, and your trade balances are virtually equal — but the copy ratio will comprise only 10% to 15%. This article describes how to increase the copy rate in such cases.

Graphical Interfaces X: Updates for Easy And Fast Library (Build 2)

Since the publication of the previous article in the series, Easy And Fast library has received some new features. The library structure and code have been partially optimized slightly reducing CPU load. Some recurring methods in many control classes have been moved to the CElement base class.

Graphical Interfaces IX: The Color Picker Control (Chapter 1)

With this article we begin chapter nine of series of articles dedicated to creating graphical interfaces in MetaTrader trading terminals. It consists of two chapters where new elements of controls and interface, such as color picker, color button, progress bar and line chart are presented.

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.

Graphical Interfaces VIII: the File Navigator Control (Chapter 3)

In the previous chapters of the eighth part of the series, our library has been reinforced by several classes for developing mouse pointers, calendars and tree views. The current article deals with the file navigator control that can also be used as part of an MQL application graphical interface.

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.

Testing trading strategies on real ticks

The article provides the results of testing a simple trading strategy in three modes: "1 minute OHLC", "Every tick" and "Every tick based on real ticks" using actual historical data.

Graphical Interfaces VIII: The Calendar Control (Chapter 1)

In the part VIII of the series of articles dedicated to creating graphical interfaces in MetaTrader, we will consider complex composite controls like calendars, tree view, and file navigator. Due to the large amount of information, there are separate articles written for every subject. The first chapter of this part describes the calendar control and its expanded version — a drop down calendar.

Testing trading strategies on real ticks

The article provides the results of testing a simple trading strategy in three modes: "1 minute OHLC", "Every tick" and "Every tick based on real ticks" using actual historical data.

Graphical Interfaces VII: The Tabs Control (Chapter 2)

The first chapter of seventh part introduced three classes of controls for creating tables: text label table (CLabelsTable), edit box table (CTable) and rendered table (CCanvasTable). In this article (chapter two) we are going to consider the Tabs control.

The checks a trading robot must pass before publication in the Market

Before any product is published in the Market, it must undergo compulsory preliminary checks in order to ensure a uniform quality standard. This article considers the most frequent errors made by developers in their technical indicators and trading robots. An also shows how to self-test a product before sending it to the Market.

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.

Universal Expert Advisor: Integration with Standard MetaTrader Modules of Signals (Part 7)

This part of the article describes the possibilities of the CStrategy engine integration with the signal modules included into the standard library in MetaTrader. The article describes how to work with signals, as well as how to create custom strategies on their basis.