Since 2022, when this idea became the focus of my master’s thesis (𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗟𝗠𝘀), I’ve been working relentlessly to make it real. What started as a research project has grown into a commercial mission: to transform how we interact with data and how we, as developers, build dashboards and present information.
The concept seemed simple at first. But as we dove deeper into connecting local databases like 𝗠𝘆𝗦𝗤𝗟, 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗦𝗤𝗟 or wider business DBMS such as 𝗢𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲 or 𝗦𝗤𝗟𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗿, and integrating remote APIs and stock information, we realized that the technical and security challenges were immense.
Ensuring the tool could run in the browser, without any installation, was another major hurdle.
After countless nights of debugging and rethinking approaches, we’ve built something that works. It is based on Angular frontend and Nodejs middleware: nothing more, nothing less.
🧪 Here’s how:
- 𝗡𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱: You can speak your request, and the system will generate charts, widgets, and tables instantly. Nothing is hardcoded.
- 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀: Easily integrate custom-made widgets into a website or even a company-size project, with all the necessary information gathered on the fly.
- 𝗙𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Whether it’s MySQL, Oracle, SQLServer, PostgreSQL, local files, APIs, open data, websites, or stock and news info – this tool can handle it all.
- 𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: It runs directly in your browser while securely accessing local data sources.
Throughout this process, we have constantly grappled with challenges, balancing 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆, and the desire to create something that anyone can use. We have now reached a point where the tool is 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 (1€/250 widgets), with 𝗻𝗼 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 involved (what’s called “data agnosticism”).
However, there is still much to be done… 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀:
- Integrate 𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗟𝗠𝘀 to make the tool 100% free and privacy-focused (frontier development).
- Expand its use for developers as a 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 or through APIs.
- Introduce 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲 and integration with PowerBI and Tableau.
Specific information and technical analysis have been reported in the 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 linked below ⬇️.
What started as a thesis has grown into something much bigger. This project is still a challenge (huge thanks to collaborators Gianni Bellorio, Daniele Martini and Alessia Bogoni), but let’s push it forward.
