What is the best way to learn coding for MetaTrader 4?

[expiated]

If anyone knows someone in the Los Angeles area who teaches this, or the best way to go about locating someone in L.A. who does so, I thank you in advance for your input. Otherwise, I will need to see if I can find someone via Upwork or a similar service that can deliver what I’m looking for at a price I’m willing to pay.

I took Spanish in college and it was incredibly boring! Learning to say he, she, it, and they are in the library in the past, present, and future tense I found to be a tremendous waste of my time!!! I ended up dropping the course and teaching Spanish to myself by memorizing all of the cultural blurbs in my Spanish textbook—like four to six paragraphs at a time—or complete songs or entire poems in Spanish, such as Caupolicán, by Rubén Darío…

Es algo formidable que vio la vieja raza:
robusto tronco de árbol al hombro de un campeón… etc.

I don’t learn things well in a piecemeal fashion. I like to see how everything fits together to form a cohesive whole.

I learned enough MQL code on my own to design my own proprietary MT4 indicators—the particular ones I needed—primarily by watching YouTube videos by Jim Dandy and paying some guy from Upwork to write a single indicator for me, from which I was able to figure out how to create all the other indicators I needed on my own after that.

But I’m now ready to take things to the next level. I have a successful system for trading Forex that follow steps which are at this point so precise I could easily automate the system if I knew how to tell the MT4 program when to open and close positions according to the rules of my strategy; and given the way that I learn best, I would ideally like to learn by taking functioning indicators and EAs and learn what each line of code does and why it is positioned in the particular location where it is situated.

The easiest way for me to do this would be learning from a book. However, the MQL-programmer’s guide I have (in PDF format) is organized in a way that is totally at odds with the way I learn best. Jim Dandy offers online courses, but that would pigeonhole me into the way HE structured his lessons, and would not provide me with a HARD copy of all the material/information so that I could absorb it all at my leisure (not to mention he charges like $20 to $40 for each section of his course instead of one lump sum for an entire publication).

I found four books online, which I have attached below, so if anyone is familiar with any of them and wants to tell me what they think of their usefulness, or can bring one or more BETTER publications to my attention, I again thank you in advance for your helpfulness...

 

[gaussian]

But I’m now ready to take things to the next level. I have a successful system for trading Forex that follow steps which are at this point so precise I could easily automate the system if I knew how to tell the MT4 program when to open and close positions according to the rules of my strategy; and given the way that I learn best, I would ideally like to learn by taking functioning indicators and EAs and learn what each line of code does and why it is positioned in the particular location where it is situated.

Just use the provided MQL4 Documentation. You appear to have a good enough command of the language. All you need to do is search for the functions you need.

I would ideally like to learn by taking functioning indicators and EAs and learn what each line of code does and why it is positioned in the particular location where it is situated.

This mentality is what stunts most people in terms of programming. No different than learning a spoken language, code has a "flow" to it. Yes there are reasons code is structured in a certain way but if you really are a "big picture programmer" you shouldn't care about this much. It will come naturally by being forcibly reminded you are doing it wrong by the compiler.

I found four books online, which I have attached below, so if anyone is familiar with any of them and wants to tell me what they think of their usefulness, or can bring one or more BETTER publications to my attention, I again thank you in advance for your helpfulness...

Don't waste your time with books on Amazon. Most MQL4/Metatrader books are written by PDF spammers. They are at best rehashes of other books, and at worst a direct copy-and-paste from terrible blogs. "How-to" programming books are basically worthless. I am a programmer by trade. The amount of time people waste following these kinds of books could be better spent just learning to write code by reading documentation.

If you're not a particularly talented programmer your best bet is to do something like purchasing a bunch of trash from an indicator vendor for $5 and studying what they wrote. Your best lessons will come from struggling until you learn. This is no different than school. The harder you struggle the better you perform (in general) because you had to work very hard to commit what you need to memory. Since you have an idea of what you need to do ("I need to figure out how to send orders"), you should look through all the code available to find examples of code that can do this. Back when I was programming MQL prior to having enough capital to trade using a real language at a real broker (Java, C++ in particular) I found the MQL forums to be an indispensable resource.

 

[fan27]

Try this...divide the problem (coding your system) into the following parts.

1. Signal logic
2. Entry logic
3. Exit logic

Those three parts might also be able to be further divided. Identify the parts that appear "easiest" and code those parts while testing with an "out-of-box" strategy. For example, maybe you code the signal logic and use existing code for entry and exit logic. Get as far as you can and then seek help for the specific parts you need help with. This will likely save you money and you might be able to accomplish a lot on your own.

I agree with @gaussian in that you do not need to buy a bunch of books. Just look at the documentation and existing code examples.

 

[expiated]

Don't waste your time with books on Amazon. Most MQL4/Metatrader books are written by PDF spammers. They are at best rehashes of other books, and at worst a direct copy-and-paste from terrible blogs. "How-to" programming books are basically worthless.

Thanks for the info.