Is EasyLanguage Hard to Learn? Beginner's Guide for TradeStation & MultiCharts

If you're considering automated trading on TradeStation or MultiCharts, you've probably asked yourself: is EasyLanguage hard to learn? After 15 years of writing trading strategies in EasyLanguage, I'll give you an honest answer—along with a realistic timeline and practical advice to get you started.

The short answer? No, EasyLanguage is not hard to learn. It's one of the most accessible programming languages for traders, specifically designed to be readable and intuitive. But "not hard" doesn't mean "instant." Let me break down exactly what you're getting into.

Why EasyLanguage Lives Up to Its Name¶

EasyLanguage was created by TradeStation in the 1990s with one goal: let traders who aren't programmers automate their strategies. Unlike Python, C++, or other general-purpose languages, EasyLanguage was built from the ground up for trading.

Here's what makes it approachable. The syntax reads almost like plain English. When you want to buy when price crosses above a moving average, you literally write:

If Close crosses above Average(Close, 20) then
    Buy next bar at market;

Compare that to implementing the same logic in Python with a trading library—you'd need to handle data feeds, order management, position tracking, and dozens of lines of boilerplate code. EasyLanguage abstracts all of that away.

The language also comes with hundreds of built-in functions specifically for trading: moving averages, RSI, ATR, Bollinger Bands, and virtually every indicator you've heard of. You're not building from scratch; you're assembling pre-built components.

The Realistic Learning Timeline¶

Based on teaching traders over the years, here's what a typical learning curve looks like.

During your first week, you'll understand basic syntax, write simple indicators, and modify existing code. You'll be able to change parameters, add alerts, and make small tweaks to strategies you find online.

By week two through four, you'll write basic strategies from scratch. Entry and exit conditions, simple position sizing, and basic risk management become comfortable. You'll understand variables, inputs, and how to structure a complete strategy.

After one to three months, you'll tackle intermediate concepts like multiple timeframes, custom functions, and more sophisticated logic. You'll start recognizing why some strategies work in backtesting but fail live, and how to code around common pitfalls.

From three to six months onward, you'll develop advanced skills. Complex portfolio logic, optimization techniques, and building your own indicator library become achievable. At this stage, you can translate virtually any trading idea into working code.

The traders who progress fastest share one trait: they have a specific strategy they want to automate. Learning with purpose beats abstract tutorials every time.

Want to accelerate your EasyLanguage learning?

Join systematic traders getting free strategy code delivered monthly. Each strategy includes complete EasyLanguage code you can study, modify, and deploy.

Get Free Strategy Code

What Makes EasyLanguage Easier Than Alternatives¶

If you're weighing EasyLanguage against Python, Pine Script, or other options, here's the honest comparison.

EasyLanguage handles broker integration automatically. Your code runs directly on TradeStation or MultiCharts with real-time data and order execution built in. With Python, you'd spend weeks just setting up the infrastructure before writing any strategy logic.

The debugging environment is trader-friendly. You can see exactly what your strategy is doing bar by bar, inspect variable values, and understand why trades triggered. This visual feedback loop accelerates learning dramatically.

Documentation is extensive and example-heavy. The TradeStation and MultiCharts communities have decades of shared code, tutorials, and forum discussions. Whatever you're trying to build, someone has probably solved a similar problem.

The Parts That Trip People Up¶

I won't pretend EasyLanguage has no learning curve. Here are the concepts that cause the most confusion for beginners.

Understanding bar-by-bar execution takes adjustment. Your code runs once for each bar of data, not continuously like a typical program. This affects how you track state, count events, and manage positions. Once this clicks, everything else falls into place.

// This runs once per bar, not continuously
Variables: ConsecutiveUpDays(0);

If Close > Close[1] then
    ConsecutiveUpDays = ConsecutiveUpDays + 1
else
    ConsecutiveUpDays = 0;

The bracket notation for historical data (Close[1] means yesterday's close, Close[2] means two days ago) is unfamiliar if you've never programmed before. But it becomes second nature within a few days of practice.

Order execution timing—specifically the difference between "this bar" and "next bar" orders—confuses many beginners. Getting this wrong leads to strategies that look profitable in backtests but can't execute in real-time.

// This order executes on the NEXT bar after the condition is true
If RSI(Close, 14) < 30 then
    Buy next bar at market;

// This order tries to execute on the CURRENT bar (only works intrabar)
If RSI(Close, 14) < 30 then
    Buy this bar at close;

A Practical Starting Point¶

Rather than overwhelming you with theory, here's a complete strategy you can type into TradeStation or MultiCharts today. It's a simple moving average crossover—nothing fancy, but it demonstrates core concepts.

// Strategy: Simple MA Crossover
// A basic trend-following system for learning purposes

Inputs:
    FastLength(10),
    SlowLength(30),
    PositionSize(1);

Variables:
    FastMA(0),
    SlowMA(0);

// Calculate moving averages
FastMA = Average(Close, FastLength);
SlowMA = Average(Close, SlowLength);

// Entry logic
If FastMA crosses above SlowMA then
    Buy PositionSize contracts next bar at market;

If FastMA crosses below SlowMA then
    SellShort PositionSize contracts next bar at market;

// Exit logic (reverse position on opposite signal)
If MarketPosition = 1 and FastMA crosses below SlowMA then
    Sell next bar at market;

If MarketPosition = -1 and FastMA crosses above SlowMA then
    BuyToCover next bar at market;

This 25-line strategy includes inputs you can optimize, variables for calculations, entry conditions, exit conditions, and position management. Study how each piece works, modify the parameters, and you'll understand 80% of what most trading strategies require.

Learning Resources That Actually Help¶

Skip the expensive courses promising overnight mastery. Here's what actually works.

The official TradeStation and MultiCharts documentation is surprisingly good. Start with their "Getting Started" guides and work through the included examples. Both platforms include dozens of pre-built indicators and strategies you can study.

For a quick reference while you code, grab our free EasyLanguage cheat sheet with all the syntax, functions, and strategy patterns in one printable page.

Learn by modification before creation. Take an existing strategy, understand what each line does, then change one thing. Does it improve results? Break the strategy? This experimentation teaches faster than passive reading.

The EasyLanguage forums at TradeStation and the MultiCharts community are goldmines. Search for whatever you're trying to build—odds are someone asked the same question years ago and received detailed answers.

Is EasyLanguage Right for You?¶

EasyLanguage makes sense if you trade on TradeStation or MultiCharts, want to automate futures strategies, prefer readable code over complex syntax, and value quick iteration over infrastructure flexibility.

EasyLanguage might not be ideal if you need to integrate with non-supported brokers, want to deploy strategies on cloud servers, or require advanced machine learning capabilities. In those cases, Python is worth the steeper learning curve.

For most retail traders focused on futures and wanting to automate their edge, EasyLanguage remains the fastest path from idea to execution.

The Bottom Line¶

Is EasyLanguage hard to learn? Compared to general-purpose programming languages, no. Compared to learning nothing at all, it requires genuine effort—perhaps 50 to 100 hours to reach basic proficiency.

But here's the real question: is it worth learning? If you have trading ideas you want to test systematically, if you're tired of manual execution, if you want to know whether your "gut feel" strategies actually have an edge—then yes, absolutely.

The traders who succeed with EasyLanguage aren't necessarily the most technical. They're the ones with clear trading ideas who commit to learning the tool that brings those ideas to life.

Start with the simple strategy above. Modify it. Break it. Fix it. That cycle of experimentation is how every successful systematic trader began.

Ready to see what's possible with EasyLanguage strategies? Browse our library of 100+ trading strategies with transparent performance data—completely free. See real results before you commit to learning the code behind them.

Frequently Asked Questions¶

How long does it take to learn EasyLanguage?¶

Most traders achieve basic proficiency in 50-100 hours of practice, typically within 1-3 months of consistent learning. You'll be able to modify existing strategies within the first week and write basic strategies from scratch within a month.

Is EasyLanguage easier than Python for trading?¶

Yes, for TradeStation and MultiCharts users. EasyLanguage handles broker integration, data feeds, and order execution automatically. Python requires weeks of infrastructure setup before you can write your first strategy. However, Python offers more flexibility for advanced machine learning applications.

Can I use EasyLanguage without programming experience?¶

Absolutely. EasyLanguage was designed for traders, not programmers. The syntax reads almost like plain English—"If Close crosses above Average then Buy at Market" is valid code. Most strategies require only 20-50 lines of code.

What's the difference between EasyLanguage and PowerLanguage?¶

PowerLanguage is MultiCharts' implementation of EasyLanguage. They're nearly identical—most code works on both platforms without modification. The main differences are in platform-specific features and some advanced functions.