Ultimate Algorithmic Trading System

206
AN INTRODUCTION TO EASYLANGUAGE
through Chapter 4, you will also notice a very close similarity to the AFL editor.
Here is a quick tutorial on the editor.
An impressive feature of this editor is the ability to quickly and easily move from
the source code of one program to another. When you open to edit more than
one analysis technique, each program or file is opened underneath its own tab very
similar to the way Microsoft Excel uses tabs for different worksheets. This is a nice
feature because it makes copying existing code from one Strategy, Function,
Indicator,orPaintbar to another very easy. As you have seen thus far in the book,
building trading algorithms is done by extending existing code. After programming
for a while, you will develop a library of ideas that you use and reuse again and
again. So it’s nice to be able to program a new idea with bits and pieces of old ideas.
The multiple-tab concept makes this much simpler.
The TDE also incorporates the idea of Outlining. We touched on this in Chapter
4 on AmiBroker very briefly when we switched to loop programming mode.
If you skipped that chapter or want a refresher, just follow along. Outlining is a
feature where blocks of source code can be grouped together to make readability
much easier. This also helps make programs much more modular. Let’s play around
with the EL Editor a bit. If you haven’t downloaded the companion EL code for this
book, it would be advisable to do so now. If you need help, go to the TradeStation
appendix and follow the instructions. The EL Editor should still be open from our
previous exercise. If not, then go ahead and launch it. From the File menu, select
Open and when the Open Easy Language Document dialog box appears select
Strategy in the Select Analysis Type drop-down menu. Your screen should look
like the one in Figure 7.4.
FIGURE 7.4
The EasyLanguage editor in the TradeStation Development Environment.
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