Learning how to program my own EAs

Trading Systems Expert Advisors and Automated Trading
#1

Hey guys.

So browsing this forum, it see over and over people looking to be pointed to a cheap EA that they can buy, run, and that will make them rich.

Well, that’s not me. Why would I ever trust my money to a trading plan I might not even understand that was programmed by someone I don’t even know. I have too much respect for my trading capital than to do that.

I have endless ideas for trading plans, and I have no problem turning my ideas into a set of rules, if this then that. What I DON’T KNOW is how to program for MT4.

Can someone point me to some youtube videos/books that will teach me how to turn my own trading ideas into MT4 EAs that I can use to then backtest/forward test?

#3

EA Builder is under $100 for a lifetime license. That’s tempting.

I’ve dropped more than that on Forex books on Amazon without blinking.

#4

I wouldn’t use books or videos. They tend to teach TOO much. Start with a “hello world” EA and go from there.
Put this into an blank EA in Mt4 code window then place on a chart.
void OnInit(){
string txt=“hello world”;
Comment(txt);
}

This places the comment on the top left of your screen.
Then, go from there. Use CODE to put the comment in uppercase, change the string to show the first three letters only, add the date and time…etc etc
Search Google.Or the help screens for what you need next…Or ask…

#5

I’m in the same boat as you. I bought programming for dummies all in one to get a start on learning how to program and code. After that, I plan on learning a language that is very close to MLQ5 so that way I can experiment and work my way into coding with the MLQ5 language. It’s going to be a long process but will help in the long run.

#6

I taught myself how to program in C# (Ctrader Platform)… But as has already been suggested above…

The most effective learning technique I used early in my journey was to find an existing EA’s code (for Metatrader 4/5 - C++) and play around with this using everything you learn either from a book or better still via online tutorials…

The MQL5 Website includes a comprehensive Step-By-Step Guide to writing an Expert Advisor in MQL5 for Beginners… (See Link Below)

There are hundreds of Free coding resources (Example Below) online, you just have to research and build (Bookmark) a referral library.

Converting an MT4 Indicator into an EA…

Hope this is of help…