In order to start coding in AFL, you need to install Amibroker on your machine.

Amibroker trial version is available free to download from their official website. The trial version contains all the necessary features except that it does not save the data files. So you would need to reload the data every time you launch Amibroker. In the learning phase, you can start with a free trial, but you should switch to a professional version once you start using it for live market analysis and creating trading systems.

Follow the below steps to install Amibroker on your machine:

On Windows

Step 1: Navigate to http://www.amibroker.com/download.html and download the installation file for the latest version of Amibroker. Note that there are separate versions for 32 bit and 64-bit machine. If you are not sure what to choose - use 32-bit link. 32-bit version works everywhere, on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows.

Step 2: Double-click on the downloaded installation file. Click on ‘Next’ on the screen that appears.

Step 3: Accept the license agreement on the next screen and specify the path where you want Amibroker installed. Let it be default if you are not sure. Click on Next.

Step 4: If you are installing Amibroker for the first time, select ‘Full Installation’ on the next screen, otherwise select ‘Upgrade Installation’. Click on Next, and then click on Install.

Step 5: The installation would run for approximately 1-2 minutes. Once the installation is complete launch Amibroker to see its working fine. Below is the home screen of Amibroker you would see after launching it for the first time.

On Macbook

Unfortunately, AmiBroker is available only for Windows and does not have native Mac version. However, you can use Parallels virtualization software (www.parallels.com) to run Amibroker on Mac. Not just Amibroker, using Parallels you can use any windows based software on Mac.

On Linux Machine

In order to use Amibroker on Linux, you can download WineHQ (https://www.winehq.org/). It is also a virtualization software used to run Windows applications on Linux, BSD, Solaris, and MacOS.