Chapter 1: Introduction (Baby-Friendly Explanation)

What This Chapter Talks About

Chapter 1 introduces you to the Non-NEAT Front End (NNF), which is a way to interact with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) trading system without using their official NEAT (National Exchange for Automated Trading) terminal. Instead, you or your team are building a custom terminal to trade on the NSE.

Key Points for Building Your Terminal

1. What is NEAT and NNF?
   • NEAT: It’s the official trading software provided by NSE.
   • NNF: If you don’t want to use NEAT, you can build your own trading terminal using the rules and protocols described in this document. That’s what you’re doing here!
2. How Does NSE Work?
   • NSE uses an automated system to match buy and sell orders.
   • It follows a price-time priority rule:
     • Price Priority: Orders with better prices are matched first.
     • Time Priority: If two orders have the same price, the one that came earlier gets priority.
3. Why Use NNF?
   • You want to create your own trading interface that connects to NSE.
   • NNF allows flexibility to design the system your way but requires strict adherence to NSE protocols.
4. Who is this Chapter For?
   • It’s for developers like you who are building the terminal.
   • It gives you a high-level understanding of how to communicate with NSE’s system.

How Does This Relate to Your Terminal?

When a trader wants to:

1. Log in to the system: You’ll send a special message called a "logon request."
2. Place an order: Your terminal must send a correctly formatted "order entry request."
3. Get market updates: You’ll listen to broadcast messages from NSE to show the latest prices and trades.

NSE expects these messages to follow a specific format, which is explained in the rest of the document. If you don’t follow the format exactly, your message will be rejected.

What Will You Build?