@bluelou: i used seer just for backtesting because that's not really ensign's strong suit. i use ensign for live charting (seer's charts not that great and i don't have an interest in autotrading) and i've developed my own applications within ensign.
You'll probably want to use one of the proprietary scripting languages like EasyLanguage (EL). EL is offered by Multicharts and TradeStation. Personally, having had a nightmare experience with TradeStation a few yrs back, I would suggest you take a good look at the EL version (not the .net version) of Multicharts.
I've been an Amibroker user for some years and now I can code (very average coder compared to Kaveman who was my mentor) last 3-4 years but personally find AB a little too complex for me to use as a trading platform. Well in my opinion AB is not a platform, it's a charting package, but using AB in conjunction with placing trades would be something I'm not familiar with. I use AB for predominatly system design and also for the vast amount of historical data I've accumulated. I migrated over to SierraChart 11 months ago and in my opinion is a great trading platform and backtester which allows you to backtest as slow as you want, including realtime, however it is not as fast as AB. In terms of language, SC has two, one based on C++, the other is Excel. I use Excel and it's great! Simple. I will add though I only trade 1 x futures symbol but there is enough complexity just getting familiar with this to keep me occupied for hours, days, even weeks and months. Writing code in SC isn't an issue, it's learning the characteristics of Futures which is the brain teaser and I love it. SC is a trading platform and is for manual or autotrading. Also good for system design. I think AB is better as a pure charting package, eg flicking from one chart to the next. AB is better for those who wish to chart multiple stocks or indices. The speed of AB is breathtaking. Absolutely brilliant!!!
+ Have you looked at TradersStudo? You will get change out of $500.00! What is the single best thing about TradersStudio? Freedom! TradersStudio is a standalone software platform. It is able to be utilized for a multitude of different tasks. It operates on Windows7 or Windows Vista, 200, XP are fine. Of course the more RAM, the faster your system board and CPUâs, the better. TradersStudo VB programing language is a cross between Easylanguage and VB used to program Excel. We fell in love with TradersStudio, it is very user friendly and has so much functionality, an excellent help menu, and incredible reporting to meet the needs of any serious systems developer, and on top of this we received excellent hard copy manuals with the TradersStudio platform. You can see the incredible hoursâ and hoursâ of work that have gone into making this fantastic trading platform which we find a dream as we get reliable results. Things we like most about TradersStudio  Separate money management for Stocks, Futures, Forex  Ability to run multiple sessions in a Trade Plan and use your pool of money that can be allocated between multiple strategies and markets  Ability to optimize portfolios  Assimilated money management  Use any Data Vendor you wish and use multiple feeds in your session  Use any Broker you wish  Create custom reports  Ability to build virtual systems  Source level debugger  Fully programmable in 1 language  Converts Easy Language in a couple of clicks  Programing wizard  Excellent add ins  Fast Tech support  3D optimizer to show you how your parameters perform  Online help and at TradersStudio web site you can find: webinarâs, books, traders tips. www.tradersstudio.com
All charting, backtesting and trading platforms I have used had and still have problems. I like multicharts but traders studio is very good too.