A Forex robot is a computer program designed to do Forex trading actions such as buying, or selling an order on a trading platform without the trader's intervention. In other words they are programmed to carry out the actions a trader would do manually.

The nickname Forex robot was derived from the attributes or intelligence a robot possesses in handling human task, otherwise they are technically known as Expert Advisors.

The computer programs are written with special programming languages like MQL, C++, C#, java, scripts, etc. A Forex robot program would usually have the following primary functions in it:

• Financial functions
• Mathematical functions
• Statistical functions
• Logical functions
• Time functions
• Combined functions (e.g. combination of indicators to form a complex or single indicator)
• Complex functions and other code libraries.

These functions are written with the guidance of the schema of the programming language. Therefore if you want to design a Forex robot you need to understand the programming language. However there are some special Forex robot development software, which allows any trader to design a Forex robot without the knowledge of any programming language.

FACTS ABOUT EXPERT ADVISORS (FOREX ROBOTS)

• EA is a fully automated or half automated tool for trading the Forex.
• Expert advisor is a very serious tool not as it is being hyped or advertised on websites with slogans like "relax while the EA makes money for you", "never work again", "no experience is required", or a picture of a trader relaxing in the beach on resort, etc. It is not entirely true.
• It is not a money printing machine as being illustrated in some adverts. The Forex market is dynamic, therefore there are ups and downs.
• It does not makes you an expendable trader.
• Expert advisors has to be updated from time to time due to the dynamics of the market. This is why some EA do well for some months or years, and later fail suddenly. It has to be reviewed more often.
• You need to have a balanced knowledge about technical & fundamental analysis. More knowledge of technical analysis is an added advantage if you want to design an efficient EA.
• You need to have a trading strategy to design an EA. You also need some experience with the market.
• You do not have to be an experienced computer programmer to design a good EA but you need to be a good and experienced trader to design a profitable EA.
• EAs are very good at handling emotions, fear, accuracy, speed, greed, money management, e.t.c much better than the best human psychic. But they are worse at emotional judgements (some trade decisions need a level of emotion).
• EAs work in the principle of garbage-in-garbage-out. This means their performance relies on what you program into it.
• The Forex market is yet to get an EA with 100% all round performance. If you know any please let us know.
• 90% tick data modelling quality is the least to decide a well-tested EA.

These are some of the true facts about Expert Advisors. Yee Kok Siong (https://yeekoksiong.wordpress.com/) advises you to do your home work before purchasing any EA.