Hi Guys,

I wanted to spend a moment a write up my recent experience with hiring a third party programmer from the register: https://www.dukascopy.com/swiss/english/forex/jforex/external/

I origionally built a system in using forex tester 2 - so the system was coded in delphi - About a year ago I hired a person of elance to convert it to java. The job he did was ok - however during the process I found communication was an issue and there were many difficulties in getting problems fixed.

I had been running the code he built for 10 months - however I found there were small problems causing the system to not execute as it should at vital times.

Looking for reliability - I decided to get another programmer to do a full audit of the code , and then make a list of recommendations based on how we can improve reliability.

I emailed 3 people from the External Programmers Register - All were based in USA - as I wanted someone with english speaking native. My request was based around knowing the jforex api / knowing the differences in running on dukascopy's remote server / and great experience at auditing code.

2 of the people i tried to contact still have not responded (over a month ago now). One application responded:

Programmer: MaryAnne Clark
Email: [email protected]

Initally she said that she was too overloaded to do the job - which I consider to be a good thing. Her email showed a good understanding of jforex / trading systems and also showed prior experience with working for a trading firm.

I said to her that I didnt mind waiting to get her to do the audit - as I perferred quality over time (my system was already running, so I didnt need to rush).

So - long story short, audit was done with full report. Communication was great - work speed was very quick. We changed the way the system was handing orders and the method of catching signals, also added in an error capture method and full logging method.

I wanted to share this recommendation with the community as I am very happy with the service and would use it again.

Cheers

DoCZero

Out of interest, what fees did you pay and for what general level of service?

HyperScalper

Hi Hyperscalper,

So I split the system into 2 Ea's, each with approx 600 lines of code. The hire was for Mary to do an audit on the existing code (no modifications) just to give me a list of every change needed to be made to make the system more reliable. The price I got was slightly less than I expected (sorry I don't wish to disclose her prices), but put it this way - for the skill / expertise I was looking for (and we had quite a lengthy email exchange before I gave her the go-ahead) I would have expected a lot higher. The price was very fair.

The report came as a word document - it was 5 pages long - included a summary / list of all problems - what the effects the problems caused & suggested solutions to each problem / Discovery questions & answers regarding finding issues I experienced / A description of the full logic / and Key conversation points.

From there I asked Mary which she though the most important parts to be fixed were , which were critical. We started by fixing them - I was supprised at the cost, as to do what she needed to , I felt was cheap. I dont know java (and only know delphi), and I thought about how much time it would take me in delphi to do this.

From there - she tested the system for 1 week checking the error logging / error capture methods - and making sure the logic was working as it should. Before giving me the 2 Ea's. Also she recommended opening a sub account to test the system (while running the old code) to make sure nothing was out of sorts. And also we have tested a subtle change in the code to make it more efficient on order entry / exit (regarding slippage).

So regarding the level of service, I was say it was very very good! IN a 2 week period. I origionally hired her on the 22/03 and she finished all modifications last week. I have been testing this week. In that time - we probably had over 40 emails discussing issues and possibilities. Communication was excellent - and qualitity of work is very high.

Cheers

DoCZero