Building Winning Trading Systems with TradeStation®, + Website, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 1

Fundamentals—What Is EasyLanguage?

When you code (slang for writing your ideas into a programming language) an analysis technique, you are directing the computer to follow your instructions to the T. A computer program is nothing but a list of instructions. A computer is obedient and speedy, but it is only as smart as its programmer. In addition, the computer requires that its instructions be in an exact format. A programmer must follow certain syntax rules.

EasyLanguage is the medium used by traders to convert a trading idea into a form that a computer can understand. Fortunately for nonprogrammers, EasyLanguage is a high-level language; it looks like the written English language. It is a compiled language; programs are converted to computer code when the programmer deems it necessary. The compiler then checks for syntactical correctness and translates your source code into a program that the computer can understand. If there is a problem, the compiler alerts the programmer and sometimes offers advice on how to fix it. This is different from a translated language, which evaluates every line as it is typed.

All computer languages, including EasyLanguage, have several things in common. They all have:

• Reserved words. Words that the computer language has set aside for a specific purpose. You can use these words only for their predefined purposes. Using these words for any other purpose may cause severe problems. (See the list of reserved words in Appendix B.)
• Remarks