I want build a financial analysis tool that will feature screen after screen of diverse, dynamic options. The screens will change based on the input from the previous screens. Any single screen can have hundreds of options, most of which will be listed in lists. I think creating my application using a regular gui style will be difficult and slow.
I’d like to build my software in a command-line like environment. I think the closest thing to what I’m going for is a Bloomberg terminal.
Are there any tools, toolkits, environments, etc that I can use to build my app on a totally blank slate that I can constantly change? I need to be able to draw charts and would love as much flexibility in graphics as possible. The folks at Bloomberg somehow do this. Can anyone give me some tips?
I have considered using a browser-based approach but I would much prefer something more native.
If it matters I’d most like to code in Java and/or jRuby.
Thanks!
Please note that regardless of the merits of the approach (per your view), I have a valid technical question.
SDL comes to mind. Although developed for games, it gives you complete control over graphics output. There’s bindings for Java as well as Ruby.
Wikipedia has a good overview