Object Oriented Programming in NT

[ij001]

I recently opened my dusty C# for Dummies book and have learned that the programming I’ve done in NT is more “procedural” in nature than “object oriented”.

(Sigh) This bothers me a bit because I thought since I have methods I have objects. That doesn’t seem to be the case…
Anyway I’m going to change my code from flow chart to more OOP. I need the flexibility of being able to add new things as they come up. Also, being able to call objects as opposed to having multiple variables that do the same thing will serve me well.

Anyway, I was looking for confirmation, in my indicators code I was going to create different classes for the objects I have and go from there. I quickly created a blank class and it compiled without any issues.
Are people here with larger programs doing that?

The indicator itself obviously will always be the main class (public class MyClass: Indicator) with OnBarUpdate being where the action is. But if we can create methods anywhere we can do the same with classes and then create objects from them?

Thx
Irvin

https://github.com/sempf/CSharpForDummies

[NinjaTrader_AdamP]

Irvin,

NinjaTrader is based on the .NET framework which uses C#. You can create your own classes for use with indicators, etc. and there are many developers doing so.

NinjaScript is setup as sort of a more functional / procedural programming language just for ease of use by inexperienced programmers but OOP should be supported as outlined in the .NET framework. You just need to keep track of the namespaces, etc. engineering part of NinjaTrader when you program your own classes for use in particular indicators or strategies.

Please let me know if I may assist further.

[ij001]

Hi Ryan

Thanks for your reply.

All my methods are in UserDefinedMethods so I will create my objects there.

Btw, where is the code for NinjaTrader.Data?
That is a namespace?
That is where say, the code for DataSeries would be?

Thx
Irvin

[NinjaTrader_AdamP]

Irvin,

That would be a global class that would be accessible in both strategy and indicator namespaces.

Please let me know if I may assist further.

[ij001]

Originally Posted by NinjaTrader_AdamP

Irvin,

That would be a global class that would be accessible in both strategy and indicator namespaces.

Please let me know if I may assist further.

What would be global?

I thought you could only have code in UserDefinedMethods for indicators and then use the UserDefinedMethods for strategies?

Currently I copy my code from indicators UserDefined to strategies userdefined...

[NinjaTrader_AdamP]

Irvin,

Apologies, I misunderstood. The NinjaTrader.Data is accessible in both namespaces, however isn't exposed for editing/viewing.

The My Documents / NinjaTrader 7 / bin / custom / indicator and strategy directories each have their own UserDefinedMethods.cs you can use for each respectively.

[koganam]

Originally Posted by ij001

I recently opened my dusty C# for Dummies book and have learned that the programming I’ve done in NT is more “procedural” in nature than “object oriented”.

(Sigh) This bothers me a bit because I thought since I have methods I have objects. That doesn’t seem to be the case…
Anyway I’m going to change my code from flow chart to more OOP. I need the flexibility of being able to add new things as they come up. Also, being able to call objects as opposed to having multiple variables that do the same thing will serve me well.

Anyway, I was looking for confirmation, in my indicators code I was going to create different classes for the objects I have and go from there. I quickly created a blank class and it compiled without any issues.
Are people here with larger programs doing that?

The indicator itself obviously will always be the main class (public class MyClass: Indicator) with OnBarUpdate being where the action is. But if we can create methods anywhere we can do the same with classes and then create objects from them?

Thx
Irvin

https://github.com/sempf/CSharpForDummies

Not quite. NT indicators and strategies are composed as classes. The code inside a class is ultimately always precedural. Even if you nest classes, your innermost class will have to be procedural. After all, all methods, even if they use class constructs, are themselves procedural.

NT seems to be using the now generally accepted standard convention of one class per file, thereby turning each file itself in effect into an object. The code in the object, consisting of methods, variables and other objects will itself be procedural.

OOP refers to how the data structures are closely entwined with the code for manipulating said data. OOP is not a reference to a coding style totally devoid of procedural elements. Indeed, it is actually impossible to write such code, because the internal methods of the classes must necessarily be procedural.

Just my $0.02.