Many forex brokers today offer a Java-based platform
to traders as opposed to the traditional software that needs to be
installed on your computer.
If you are considering using a broker
that offers this type of web-based trading platform, it is important
for you to understand what makes this option good, as well as its
potential downfalls.
First off, Java is a programming language
that can make dynamic programs available through just your web browser.
So understand that with Java-based trading, your forex trading platform
will load within your internet browser (such as Internet Explorer or
Firefox).
One of the potential upsides of a Java-based trading
environment is that because there is no need to install any software,
you can use nearly any computer to access your forex trading account.
With a downloadable trading platform, you will usually be tied to a
single computer for your trading because any other computer that you
would use would need to have this software installed as well.
A
potential downside of a Java-based forex platform is that downloadable
platforms tend to have many more features, such as a newsfeed, advanced
charting, and possibly even trading signals. A Java-based platform will
likely have not much more than you need in order to place trades, and
you will need to use some external charting program in order to view
price data.
FX trading platforms that you have to download and
install onto your computer tend to be highly refined to the point that
they will very rarely, if ever, crash. Brokers know that they could
lose many customers if they use a software which is prone to crashing,
so they will put significant resources into making sure that their
software will be stable.
Your internet browser is much more prone
to crashing than is your trading software (usually), especially if you
are surfing other web pages or checking your email at the same time. If
your browser does happen to crash or shut down, and you have trades
open, it is hard to predict what will happen.
Either way, it is
always a good idea to keep the phone number of your broker on hand just
in case you should have trouble with your trading platform. If for some
reason your Java-based trading environment were to crash while you had
trades open and you were unable to bring that data back up on your
screen, it would be wise to call your broker and close all open
positions.
Ideally, you would want to choose a forex broker that
offered both a Java-based trading environment as well as downloadable
software. That way, you could enjoy the stability and features of the
downloadable software, but also be able to log into your trading
account from a computer that does not have the software installed.
