Forex traders can choose from a variety of trading platforms. However, because not every Forex broker offers every sort of trading platform, this decision factors in a trader’s broker of choice. Furthermore, some brokers do not have actual compatibility with particular Forex trading platforms, but do provide access to them via a bridge, which is software that connects a Forex broker's dealing system to the platform.

Metatrader 4 (MT4) is a well-known trading platform that is widely considered to be the industry standard. Although it is manufactured by the same business, the Metatrader 5 (MT5) trading platform is less widely used (the Cyprus-based MetaQuotes Software Corporation).

Because Metatrader 5 was released in 2010, five years after Metatrader 4 and at a time when Metatrader 4 was already very popular, and also because of the number sequence in the platform names, there is a common misunderstanding that Metatrader 5 is a new improved version of Metatrader 4 that does the same job better. Although it is a trading platform and back testing machine like Metatrader 4, and the graphical user interfaces appear and feel comparable, this is not the case. This should be mentioned in any good Metatrader review.

Metatrader 5 was actually designed to do some things that Metatrader 4 could not do. In reality, it was aimed at a different market, and thus, there is really very little reason to enter a discussion about “MT4 vs. MT5”. Metatrader 5 was created with the intention of being able to trade markets other than Forex, such as stocks and commodities, because it is better suited to connecting to a centralized trading exchange.

Forex is a totally decentralized market, with a number of large participants supplying liquidity at somewhat varied rates and in an uncoordinated manner into this massive market. Stocks and commodities, the latter of which is mostly traded as a futures contract (indeed, numerous contracts with varying expiry dates), must often be transacted through a centralized mechanism before full legal effect may be transferred. It's safe to suppose that Metaquotes envisioned a retail stock and commodity trading boom at the time of the MT5's development and introduction, and tailored the software to match that market.

Due to traders wanting to explore more markets without deviating from their trading strategies and analysis techniques, It is our mission in this course to equip traders and any interested individuals with knowledge on how to convert an indicator or expert advisor from MQL4 format into MQL5 format such that the software becomes compatible to both Metatrader 4 and Metatrader 5 platforms.