I did some basic search, Sierra Chart, Ninja Trader and TradeStation look good. Can anyone please give me some ideas of these tools? Which one is most powerful for manual trading? Which one has most users? Which one has the biggest developer base? etc.Thanks!
As stated, SierraChart uses C/C++ language. It is called ACSIL, and code can be compiled through 3rd party programming platforms including MS Visual Studio Community Edition which is free, and also has full debugging features. I have used SC for years, including programming a library of indicators, auto-trades, and general utility-type tools. Just as important, maybe moreso, is the fact SC is stable as it gets... it just always works (for me).
All that said, SC is "old school". Compared to programming in C# or another modern language, where things are exposed as "objects", and objects have events, those modern traits may have to be created in C/C++. What may seem trivial in one language, may be a project in another. It works both ways though... if an object does not expose what you want, you are basically out of luck. With C/C++ you can twiddle and use even use brute force if you want. Not so true in other languages.
Anyway, with all it's warts and quirks (all platforms have warts and quirks btw), if I had to start fresh, I would still choose SierraChart. The price, the support board, the capabilities, the acceptance of use at many brokers, choice of data feeds, the stability. It all works (for me).
