Notice!
This is documentation for v5, which is no longer
actively maintained.
For up-to-date documentation, see the latest version.
Style guide
Introduction
This style guide provides recommendations on how to name variables and organize your Pine scripts in a standard way that works well. Scripts that follow our best practices will be easier to read, understand and maintain.
You can see scripts using these guidelines published from the TradingView and PineCoders accounts on the platform.
Naming Conventions
We recommend the use of:
camelCase
for all identifiers, i.e., variable or function names:ma
,maFast
,maLengthInput
,maColor
,roundedOHLC()
,pivotHi()
.- All caps
SNAKE_CASE
for constants:BULL_COLOR
,BEAR_COLOR
,MAX_LOOKBACK
. - The use of qualifying suffixes when it provides valuable clues about
the type or provenance of a variable:
maShowInput
,bearColor
,bearColorInput
,volumesArray
,maPlotID
,resultsTable
,levelsColorArray
.
Script organization
The Pine Script® compiler is quite forgiving of the positioning of specific statements or the version compiler annotation in the script. While other arrangements are syntactically correct, this is how we recommend organizing scripts:
<license><version><declaration_statement><import_statements><constant_declarations><inputs><function_declarations><calculations><strategy_calls><visuals><alerts>
<license>
If you publish your open-source scripts publicly on TradingView (scripts can also be published privately), your open-source code is by default protected by the Mozilla license. You may choose any other license you prefer.
The reuse of code from those scripts is governed by our House Rules on Script Publishing which preempt the author’s license.
The standard license comments appearing at the beginning of scripts are:
// This source code is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public License 2.0 at https://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/
// © username
<version>
This is the compiler annotation defining the version of Pine Script the script will use. If none is present, v1 is used. For v5, use:
//@version=5
<declaration_statement>
This is the mandatory declaration statement which defines the type of your script. It must be a call to either indicator(), strategy(), or library().
<import_statements>
If your script uses one or more Pine Script libraries, your import statements belong here.
<constant_declarations>
Scripts can declare variables qualified as “const”, i.e., ones referencing a constant value.
We refer to variables as “constants” when they meet these criteria:
- Their declaration uses the optional
const
keyword (see our User Manual’s section on type qualifiers for more information). - They are initialized using a literal (e.g.,
100
or"AAPL"
) or a built-in qualified as “const” (e.g.,color.green
). - Their value does not change during the script’s execution.
We use SNAKE_CASE
to name these variables and group their declaration
near the top of the script. For example:
// ————— Constants
int MS_IN_MIN = 60 * 1000
int MS_IN_HOUR = MS_IN_MIN * 60
int MS_IN_DAY = MS_IN_HOUR * 24
color GRAY = #808080ff
color LIME = #00FF00ff
color MAROON = #800000ff
color ORANGE = #FF8000ff
color PINK = #FF0080ff
color TEAL = #008080ff
color BG_DIV = color.new(ORANGE, 90)
color BG_RESETS = color.new(GRAY, 90)
string RST1 = "No reset; cumulate since the beginning of the chart"
string RST2 = "On a stepped higher timeframe (HTF)"
string RST3 = "On a fixed HTF"
string RST4 = "At a fixed time"
string RST5 = "At the beginning of the regular session"
string RST6 = "At the first visible chart bar"
string RST7 = "Fixed rolling period"
string LTF1 = "Least precise, covering many chart bars"
string LTF2 = "Less precise, covering some chart bars"
string LTF3 = "More precise, covering less chart bars"
string LTF4 = "Most precise, 1min intrabars"
string TT_TOTVOL = "The 'Bodies' value is the transparency of the total volume candle bodies. Zero is opaque, 100 is transparent."
string TT_RST_HTF = "This value is used when '" + RST3 +"' is selected."
string TT_RST_TIME = "These values are used when '" + RST4 +"' is selected.
A reset will occur when the time is greater or equal to the bar's open time, and less than its close time.\nHour: 0-23\nMinute: 0-59"
string TT_RST_PERIOD = "This value is used when '" + RST7 +"' is selected."
In this example:
- The
RST*
andLTF*
constants will be used as tuple elements in theoptions
argument ofinput.*()
calls. - The
TT_*
constants will be used astooltip
arguments ininput.*()
calls. Note how we use a line continuation for long string literals. - We do not use var to initialize constants. The Pine Script runtime is optimized to handle declarations on each bar, but using var to initialize a variable only the first time it is declared incurs a minor penalty on script performance because of the maintenance that var variables require on further bars.
Note that:
- Literals used in more than one place in a script should always be
declared as a constant. Using the constant rather than the literal
makes it more readable if it is given a meaningful name, and the
practice makes code easier to maintain. Even though the quantity of
milliseconds in a day is unlikely to change in the future,
MS_IN_DAY
is more meaningful than1000 * 60 * 60 * 24
. - Constants only used in the local block of a function or if, while, etc., statement for example, can be declared in that local block.
<inputs>
It is much easier to read scripts when all their inputs are in the same code section. Placing that section at the beginning of the script also reflects how they are processed at runtime, i.e., before the rest of the script is executed.
Suffixing input variable names with input
makes them more readily
identifiable when they are used later in the script: maLengthInput
,
bearColorInput
, showAvgInput
, etc.
// ————— Inputs
string resetInput = input.string(RST2, "CVD Resets", inline = "00", options = [RST1, RST2, RST3, RST4, RST5, RST6, RST7])
string fixedTfInput = input.timeframe("D", " Fixed HTF: ", tooltip = TT_RST_HTF)
int hourInput = input.int(9, " Fixed time hour: ", inline = "01", minval = 0, maxval = 23)
int minuteInput = input.int(30, "minute", inline = "01", minval = 0, maxval = 59, tooltip = TT_RST_TIME)
int fixedPeriodInput = input.int(20, " Fixed period: ", inline = "02", minval = 1, tooltip = TT_RST_PERIOD)
string ltfModeInput = input.string(LTF3, "Intrabar precision", inline = "03", options = [LTF1, LTF2, LTF3, LTF4])
<function_declarations>
All user-defined functions must be defined in the script’s global scope; nested function definitions are not allowed in Pine Script.
Optimal function design should minimize the use of global variables in the function’s scope, as they undermine function portability. When it can’t be avoided, those functions must follow the global variable declarations in the code, which entails they can’t always be placed in the <function_declarations> section. Such dependencies on global variables should ideally be documented in the function’s comments.
It will also help readers if you document the function’s objective, parameters and result. The same syntax used in libraries can be used to document your functions. This can make it easier to port your functions to a library should you ever decide to do so:
//@version=5
indicator("<function_declarations>", "", true)
string SIZE_LARGE = "Large"
string SIZE_NORMAL = "Normal"
string SIZE_SMALL = "Small"
string sizeInput = input.string(SIZE_NORMAL, "Size", options = [SIZE_LARGE, SIZE_NORMAL, SIZE_SMALL])
// @function Used to produce an argument for the `size` parameter in built-in functions.
// @param userSize (simple string) User-selected size.
// @returns One of the `size.*` built-in constants.
// Dependencies SIZE_LARGE, SIZE_NORMAL, SIZE_SMALL
getSize(simple string userSize) =>
result =
switch userSize
SIZE_LARGE => size.large
SIZE_NORMAL => size.normal
SIZE_SMALL => size.small
=> size.auto
if ta.rising(close, 3)
label.new(bar_index, na, yloc = yloc.abovebar, style = label.style_arrowup, size = getSize(sizeInput))
<calculations>
This is where the script’s core calculations and logic should be placed. Code can be easier to read when variable declarations are placed near the code segment using the variables. Some programmers prefer to place all their non-constant variable declarations at the beginning of this section, which is not always possible for all variables, as some may require some calculations to have been executed before their declaration.
<strategy_calls>
Strategies are easier to read when strategy calls are grouped in the same section of the script.
<visuals>
This section should ideally include all the statements producing the script’s visuals, whether they be plots, drawings, background colors, candle-plotting, etc. See the Pine Script user manual’s section on here for more information on how the relative depth of visuals is determined.
<alerts>
Alert code will usually require the script’s calculations to have executed before it, so it makes sense to put it at the end of the script.
Spacing
A space should be used on both sides of all operators, except unary
operators (-1
). A space is also recommended after all commas and when
using named function arguments, as in plot(series = close)
:
int a = close > open ? 1 : -1
var int newLen = 2
newLen := min(20, newlen + 1)
float a = -b
float c = d > e ? d - e : d
int index = bar_index % 2 == 0 ? 1 : 2
plot(close, color = color.red)
Line wrapping
Line wrapping can make long lines easier to read. Line wraps are defined by using an indentation level that is not a multiple of four, as four spaces or a tab are used to define local blocks. Here we use two spaces:
plot(
series = close,
title = "Close",
color = color.blue,
show_last = 10
)
Vertical alignment
Vertical alignment using tabs or spaces can be useful in code sections
containing many similar lines such as constant declarations or inputs.
They can make mass edits much easier using the Pine Editor’s
multi-cursor feature (ctrl
+
alt
+ 🠅
):
// Colors used as defaults in inputs.
color COLOR_AQUA = #0080FFff
color COLOR_BLACK = #000000ff
color COLOR_BLUE = #013BCAff
color COLOR_CORAL = #FF8080ff
color COLOR_GOLD = #CCCC00ff
Explicit typing
Including the type of variables when declaring them is not required.
However, it helps make scripts easier to read, navigate, and understand.
It can help clarify the expected types at each point in a script’s
execution and distinguish a variable’s declaration (using =
) from its
reassignments (using :=
). Using explicit typing can also make scripts
easier to debug.