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It's impossible to say "this one, for sure !!!", as both products are different, and can't do exactly the same job, all depends of your needs.
Trading using the chart or with DOM/ATMs is impossible (yet) with MC, EL is easier than C#, but C# is more powerful, you can't trade options with NT, the backtesting engine of MC is better, ...
So no clear answer possible, without knowing what you really need.
This is going to be a different kind of post. A different kind of thread. Mike, in fact, might not want it here, but I'm going to put it here, because it needs to be here, and what I have to say needs to be said.
When choosing a platform, here are a few things to consider:
Interface Design-Does the platform have a visual appeal? This plays a role as to how intuitive the platform will be for you as a trader. More sophisticated traders will find it easier to navigate through some platforms, while beginners will find it a little bit harder to discover all the features.
Time Frame - What sort of time frame are you trading? I find that some platforms are absolutely overwhelming for longer term traders while others are useless for short term traders. I am not sure why is the case, but working with customers over the years, I have learned carefully to listen to their style and match accordingly.
"Bells and Whistles" - What do you truly need out of a platform? Just because a certain platform is feature-rich does not mean you need it. Platforms are like fashion, every year a trader needs a new toy that will make him a "better-trader".
Make sure that you are truly going to enjoy the features and BENEFITS that each platform may carry. At the very least, stay committed to learning the platform inside and out if there are features that you think could be utilized.
Stability, Support and Feed: The platform support are just as equally important as your brokers. You have to feel like you are in a team environment, and the platforms vendors will jump in to help you along with the broker. Does your broker know your platform? Is he "pushing" something popular that he does not have an understanding of? The feed is SO important as well. The feed will determine the speed of execution. We use Rithmic and we received good feedback from traders who have used other feeds before, but again, this is a biased opinion from our group.
Becoming a trader also means independent thinking.
Demo the platforms, and determine for yourself what is right for you.
At the end you should be able to say "I made the choice!"
Matt
Trading futures and options involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. You may lose more than your initial investment. All posts are opinions and do not claim to be facts. Please conduct your own due diligence. Use only Risk capital when trading Futures.
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I wanted to revisit this thread given that we now have manual trading, DOM and built-in strategies for dragging onto the chart. Any more opinions from the members?
MultiCharts - Raising the Trading Standard.
Please send me a private message if you have any further questions about MultiCharts
NinjaTrader is better. NinjaTrader has created an accessible C# trading environment where it's possible to code just about any idea you can come up with. The downside to this accessibility is that it's possible to acquire very poorly constructed indicators that consume vast amounts of system resources or worse. This one characteristic, combined with folks who are using outdated computers / operating systems, combines to account for the overwhelming vast majority of complaints that are levied against NinjaTrader. The upside to that C# trading environment is what makes NinjaTrader superior to it's competitors, i.e. unlimited flexibility to do exactly what you want to do with your charts / indicators and the data that they are receiving.
Thanks for the comment. C# dev has its ups and downs, just like EL dev.
Added commentary:
Thought about this point more, and wanted to highlight the reasons why we went with EasyLanguage. So, let's analyze EasyLanguage vs C#, we think EL is better and more suitable to the majority of traders.
1. Ease of Use - EasyLanguage definitely wins here. It is a language that has gained worldwide recognition since its creation over 20 years ago, and one that has tens of thousands of users and developers. Not all traders are programmers, as a matter of fact a rather small percentage of traders is fluent with a full programming language. However, the reality of trading software is that some scripting is often required to achieve custom goals, and EasyLanguage was created to make it easier for traders. Not every trader is willing/has time to devote to learning complex syntax, and EasyLanguage lets them start writing simple commands within minutes (you can understand how scripts work just by looking at some for a few minutes, since it resembles plain English). C# on the other hand is a full-blown programming language, but which affords perhaps more flexibility for the small percentage of traders that do know it.
Btw, we developed a platform for FXCM called Strategy Trader, it has a C# module. It's not that difficult to implement it in a platform, while maintaining compatibility is much more difficult. We go through the trouble because we think EL is better for traders.
EasyLanguage - much lower learning curve, which makes it suitable and desirable for the majority of traders.
C# - much steeper learning curve; much more difficult to achieve even simple tasks without spending a lot of time learning.
2. Flexibility. "Unlimited flexibility" of C# mentioned above is not actually true. C# is just a tool, just like EasyLanguage – each one has certain limitations and which runs on a particular framework. There is no such language that can go outside of the limitations placed by the framework, i.e. you’ll never be able to something in C# that your framework hasn't provided for from the very beginning. The functionality of a particular language can be expanded through the use of DLLs in C++, which is a whole different story from C#, and means more learning. These external DLLs can be used from C# and from EL alike.
So, in MC you actually have two options - EL and whatever C#/C++ DLLs you come up, vs only C#/C++ in NT. Is it better to have fewer options than more?
3. Security. Your C# code is not secure, and this is a fact. C# is managed code that runs on .NET that is compiled into machine code during run-time. All scripts contain the source code and your ideas are actually in the open, while you think they are secure (the most dangerous combination of all).
To gain more security, you need to use C++ because that compiles into machine code before use. Such code is more protected and needs to be disassembled to gain any information about it. Same thing goes for EasyLanguage Read-Only mode in MC – it exports machine code that is also version-secured. Disassembly of code is inherently difficult; it essentially requires the code to be rewritten based on visual observation, guessing, and a few hints disassembled 1’s and 0’s. Overall, security of managed C# and machine code cannot even be compared.
Besides protecting your NinjaScripts by assembling them as (RemoteSoft or not) .dll ...
Is there such a thing as time limit protection ?
I would like to share indicators but that after a few weeks of use, they can't be used anymore by my …
- here is some more discussion on C# protection. Some third-party tools make it more difficult to read the code by adding certain “confusion” points, but an experienced programmer can easily follow the logic and would have no trouble rebuilding the code. You need to recognize that the C# code is still there – the managed code needs to be there to execute in run-time. Here some more commentary from NT’s website that says the same thing- https://forum.ninjatrader.com/showthread.php?t=20698
MultiCharts - Raising the Trading Standard.
Please send me a private message if you have any further questions about MultiCharts