Market Orders vs Limit Orders
If you do not understand the difference between market orders and limit orders, a lot of order flow language will sound smarter than it really is. This is one of the first concepts that actually matters, because it explains who is taking liquidity, who is providing it, and why some moves travel while others stall immediately.
Put simply, market orders are urgent. Limit orders are patient. The fight between the two is what creates most of the behaviour you end up reading on the footprint, in delta, and in CVD.
Understand how aggressive buyers and sellers interact in real time, and why traders use order flow to read what happened inside the move.
Use order flow as a decision layer around levels, context, and execution instead of reading it in isolation.
Learn how active order takers and resting liquidity providers create the push-and-pull you see on the tape.
Relevant when the topic is about the stack itself, how the tools fit together, or what each tool is really showing you.
What each order type is doing
A market order crosses the spread and gets filled straight away. It is the order type that says, I want in now. A limit order sits and waits to be hit. It is the order type that says, I will only do business at this price or better.
That distinction matters because the urgent side is the side pushing. If buyers keep lifting the offer with market orders, they are the ones applying pressure. If sellers keep hitting the bid, same idea in reverse.
Why order flow traders care so much
A lot of order flow is really just a cleaner way of reading how aggressive and passive participants interact. That is why pages like Aggressive vs Passive Participants, What Is Delta, and What Is CVD all branch naturally from this one.
Once you understand which side is forcing the trade and which side is absorbing it, the market starts making a lot more sense.
Where traders misunderstand it
The common mistake is assuming the aggressive side must win just because it looks loud. It does not work like that. Aggressive buyers can still get absorbed. Aggressive sellers can still slam into a level and go nowhere.
So the point is not just to spot urgency. The point is to see whether that urgency is actually being rewarded.