Getting an Expert Advisor published on the MQL5 Market sounds simple. Build it, upload it, done. Right?
Not even close.
MetaQuotes runs every EA through an automated validator that checks for everything from memory leaks to broker-specific edge cases. My first submission came back with 21 errors. Twenty-one.
Some were obvious — uninitialized variables, missing error checks on trade operations. But others were things I never would have caught on my own: handling brokers that don't support certain order types, dealing with different tick sizes across pairs, managing the gap between SYMBOL_TRADE_STOPS_LEVEL and my stop loss placement.
Each error forced me to build a more robust, production-grade EA. In hindsight, every single one made the product better.
[Full article coming soon — this is a placeholder.]