Algorithm Development Lifecycle (ADL) vs Automated Trading System (ATS)

The Algorithm Development Lifecycle (ADL) is a five-phase quality gate framework — Design, Code, Backtest, Paper Trade, Live Deploy — that every algorithmic strategy must complete before real capital is committed.

An Automated Trading System (ATS) is a complete, deployed implementation of algorithmic trading — integrating data feeds, signal generation, risk management, and live order execution into a single operational framework.