Ultimate Algorithmic Trading System

■ TradeStation IDE
204
AN INTRODUCTION TO EASYLANGUAGE
TradeStation has beautiful charts and a huge library of indicators and drawing tools.
Technicians love this interface. Chart creation is very simple and since TradeStation
uses its own data servers, database management is not an issue. You log on, log
in, and the data is but a few keystrokes away. This tight integration is one of the
things that make TradeStation so popular. The other thing that makes TradeStation
so good is EasyLanguage (EL). EL is similar in concept to AmiBroker’s AFL and the
code that makes up the Exel and Python backtesters that we have discussed.
The TradeStation Development Environment (TDE) can run independent
of TradeStation 9.5 and you can launch it by finding it under the start menu or
double-clicking its icon. This is helpful sometimes when you simply want to modify
some code or start a new strategy or analysis technique and don’t need to see the
results of your work. However, if you do want to see the results of your coding
instantaneously, then you should have both running. If you have TradeStation, you
can follow along with this tutorial. If not, you can still follow along to see if
TradeStation and EasyLanguage might fit your testing/trading needs. Let’s launch
TradeStation 9.5. For this exercise, let’s go ahead and log on by typing in your
UserName and Password. Your screen should look somewhat similar to Figure 7.1.
Inside this figure you should see a small tab labeled TradingApps. Click on the
tab and another window like the one in Figure 7.2 will open up.
This window shows all the additional trading tools that have been turned on in
your TradeStation platform. The one we are interested in right now is the button
labeled EasyLanguage. Click it and you should be transferred over to the TDE.
Check to make sure your screen looks like Figure 7.3.
With version 8.8, TradeStation finally developed a powerful IDE. It is now
similar in capabilities to other professional program authoring tools. If you went
FIGURE 7.1
The TradeStation home screen.
www.rasabourse.com