About Easylanguage and Powerlanguage

Hello everybody

I'm very new to MC, and I'm wondring some questions about one of the most interesting thing in MC : the easylanguage friendly stuff.

So, what does that mean exactly?

- Can I code in MC in easylanguage? Some software are easylanguage compatible, but when I import an easylanguage file, say an indicator, the file is translated in the language of the software. This means I can import my easylanguage files, but I still need to learn their language. Is this the case with PowerLanguage?

- Is PowerLanguage an extension of Easylanguage ( same syntax, and same keywords)? If so, how is this possible? I though Easylanguage is propriatary to TS, does MC pays TS the right to use their language?

Thanks

Hello mattrades,

MultiCharts PowerLanguage is 99% compatible with TS 8.6 and lower EasyLanguage (syntax and keywords are mostly the same as Easylanguage). In some cases EL code may need a slight modification.

Object-oriented introduced in TS 9.0 programming is not supported in PowerLanguage.

That means you can code EL in MultiCharts and you do not need to learn any other language.

Thank you very much, that's exactly what I needed to know.

Just out of curiosity, do you have some sort of agreement with TS? I really thought easylanguage was proprietary

Regards

Not speaking for MultiCharts...

AFAIK, there is no patent on the EasyLanguage.
To file for a patent, you have to prove your invention is technologically new and there is no "Prior Art" (Google it if you have never heard of this term). Most computer languages evolve from another. In EasyLanguage's case, it is evolved from Pascal. Unless you have started something from the ground up, your "new" language is a mutt, thus it is not a patentable product.

You can easily trademark a name, you can copyright your code (eg. your version of MACD), but I don't know if anyone has patented a language. Patents are more about protecting the method, rather than the specific implementation. Last I heard, Google and Oracle are still dueling it out in court over parts of Android and Java. If a company wants to protect a software invention, it would be easier to patent a compiler than the language itself.

On the other hand, codes can be copyrighted. There are many prior cases where computer codes have been copyrighted or patented. For example, Compound OLAP, Auto-Centering DOM, GIF image algorithm, etc. (Yes, GIF is patented. Every time a website uses a GIF, it has to pay a royalty. That's why PNG became popular; it is used as an alternative to avoid royalty payments.)

ps. in Europe software patents are explicitly forbidden.


as usual, just my 2c.