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MT4 already has a Strategy Tester, alerts and free EAs, so code is not the missing piece. Spread is. A one-pip spread removed 91% of the best result I have measured, and at 1.5 pips it went negative.

A usable MT4 chart is six decisions, and the one that moves results most is the timeframe: the same rule ranged from -0.33 to +1.48 pips per trade on identical data, purely on which timeframe it ran.

Four clicks to install, then five things that go wrong afterwards. Where to get the right build, where MT4 hides your indicators, and the one setup decision that moves results more than the platform does.

MT5’s only measurable advantage over MT4 is seven extra timeframes. I ran one rule across 16,926 EURUSD 5-minute bars on both platforms’ timeframes. The MT5-only ones finished in the middle every time.

Where to see the real spread in MT4, what a pip of it costs by lot size, and the hour-by-hour table showing the same 1-pip spread ranging from 34% to 105% of the average 5-minute bar.

One line of arithmetic, the finished lot table for a 10,000 dollar account, and the exact order-window fields to fill in on MetaTrader 4 and 5 — in the right order.

Where Ichimoku lives in MT4, what each of the three inputs does, and why the most commonly recommended tweak, 10/30/60, was the worst of four settings I tested.

Where ADX lives in MT5, which settings matter, and the three rules that stop a strength gauge from turning into forty trades a week.

What the four MT4 moving average fields really control, which settings were measured profitable on EURUSD, and the Shift trap that makes a backtest look predictive when it is not.