Tools For Writing and Debugging Custom Trading Rules
SharpDevelop
You may choose to use either MicroSoft Visual Studio or the FREE SharpDevelop tool. SharpDevelop is a FREE tool to use for writing and debugging your custom trading models. SharpDevelop handles this task well since it is a full featured software development IDE for .NET projects.
To install SharpDevelop verson 3.0:
Visual Studio
You can use either FREE SharpDevelop tool or you can use MicroSoft Visual Studio. You can download a 90 free trial or purchase Visual Studio from Microsoft. This is a tool that you need so that you can write and debug your custom trading rules. Visual Studio handles this nicely because it's the official software development tool for .NET project from Microsoft.
To debug TickZOOM with Visual Studio you must follow the additional steps at TickZOOM Support for Visual Studio.
Visual Studio vs. SharpDevelop
It appears that the debugger for SharpDevelop is better optimized for running the large amounts of tick data. When running TickZOOM under the Visual Studio debugger, you won't even see the progress bar moving. In contrast, on SharpDevelop, the debugger runs only about 30% slower than when you run without the debugger. So if you often like to step through your trading rules in a debugger then be sure to compare for yourself.
