embodiments of the invention may be implemented by systems using one or more programmable digital computers . fig1 depicts an example of one such computer system 100 , which includes at least one processor 110 , such as , e . g ., an intel or advanced micro devices microprocessor , coupled to a communications channel or bus 112 . the computer system 100 further includes at least one input device 114 such as , e . g ., a keyboard , mouse , touch pad or screen , or other selection or pointing device , at least one output device 116 such as , e . g ., an electronic display device , at least one communications interface 118 , at least one data storage device 120 such as a magnetic disk or an optical disk , and memory 122 such as rom and ram , each coupled to the communications channel 112 . the communications interface 118 may be coupled to a network ( not depicted ) such as the internet . although the computer system 100 is shown in fig1 to have only a single communications channel 112 , a person skilled in the relevant arts will recognize that a computer system may have multiple channels ( not depicted ), including for example one or more busses , and that such channels may be interconnected , e . g ., by one or more bridges . in such a configuration , components depicted in fig1 as connected by a single channel 112 may interoperate , and may thereby be considered to be coupled to one another , despite being directly connected to different communications channels . one skilled in the art will recognize that , although the data storage device 120 and memory 122 are depicted as different units , the data storage device 120 and memory 122 can be parts of the same unit or units , and that the functions of one can be shared in whole or in part by the other , e . g ., as ram disks , virtual memory , etc . it will also be appreciated that any particular computer may have multiple components of a given type , e . g ., processors 110 , input devices 114 , communications interfaces 118 , etc . the data storage device 120 ( fig1 ) and / or memory 122 may store instructions executable by one or more processors or kinds of processors 110 , data , or both . some groups of instructions , possibly grouped with data , may make up one or more programs , which may include an operating system 132 such as windows 7 , microsoft windows xp ® or vista ™, linux ®, mac os ®, or unix ®. other programs 134 may be stored instead of or in addition to the operating system . it will be appreciated that a computer system may also be implemented on platforms and operating systems other than those mentioned . any operating system 132 or other program 134 , or any part of either , may be written using one or more programming languages such as , e . g ., java ®, c , c ++, c #, visual basic ®, vb . net ®, perl , ruby , python , or other programming languages , possibly using object oriented design and / or coding techniques . one skilled in the art will recognize that the computer system 100 ( fig1 ) may also include additional components and / or systems , such as network connections , additional memory , additional processors , network interfaces , input / output busses , for example . one skilled in the art will also recognize that the programs and data may be received by and stored in the system in alternative ways . for example , a computer - readable storage medium ( crsm ) reader 136 , such as , e . g ., a magnetic disk drive , magneto - optical drive , optical disk drive , or flash drive , may be coupled to the communications channel 112 for reading from a crsm 138 such as , e . g ., a magnetic disk , a magneto - optical disk , an optical disk , or flash ram . alternatively , one or more crsm readers may be coupled to the rest of the computer system 100 , e . g ., through a network interface ( not depicted ) or a communications interface 118 . in any such configuration , however , the computer system 100 may receive programs and / or data via the crsm reader 136 . further , it will be appreciated that the term “ memory ” herein is intended to include various types of suitable data storage media , whether permanent or temporary , including among other things the data storage device 120 , the memory 122 , and the csrm 138 . two or more computer systems 100 ( fig1 ) may communicate , e . g ., in one or more networks , via , e . g ., their respective communications interfaces 118 and / or network interfaces ( not depicted ). fig2 is a block diagram depicting an example of one such interconnected network 142 . network 142 may , for example , connect one or more workstations 144 with each other and with other computer systems , such as file servers 146 or mail servers 148 . a workstation 144 may comprise a computer system 100 . the connection may be achieved tangibly , e . g ., via ethernet ® or optical cables , or wirelessly , e . g ., through use of modulated microwave signals according to the ieee 802 . 11 family of standards . a computer workstation 144 or system 100 that participates in the network may send data to another computer workstation system in the network via the network connection . a user station or trader station or client station may be embodied by computer workstation 144 or other suitable equipment known in the art . one use of a network 142 ( fig2 ) is to enable a computer system to provide services to other computer systems , consume services provided by other computer systems , or both . for example , a file server 146 may provide common storage of files for one or more of the workstations 144 on a network 142 . a workstation 144 sends data including a request for a file to the file server 146 via the network 142 and the file server 146 may respond by sending the data from the file back to the requesting workstation 144 . further , a computer system may simultaneously act as a workstation , a server , and / or a client . for example , as depicted in fig2 , a workstation 144 is connected to a printer 152 . that workstation 144 may allow users of other workstations on the network 142 to use the printer 152 , thereby acting as a print server . at the same time , however , a user may be working at the workstation 144 on a document that is stored on the file server 146 . the network 142 ( fig2 ) may be connected to one or more other networks , e . g ., via a router 156 . a router 156 may also act as a firewall , monitoring and / or restricting the flow of data to and / or from the network 142 as configured to protect the network . a firewall may alternatively be a separate device ( not pictured ) from the router 156 . an internet may comprise a network of networks 142 ( fig2 ). the term “ the internet ” refers to the worldwide network of interconnected , packet - switched data networks that use the internet protocol ( ip ) to route and transfer data . for example , a client and server on different networks may communicate via the internet 158 , e . g ., a workstation 144 may request a world wide web document from a web server 160 . the web server 160 may process the request and pass it to , e . g ., an application server 162 . the application server 162 may then conduct further processing , which may include , for example , sending data to and / or receiving data from one or more other data sources . such a data source may include , e . g ., other servers on the same computer system 100 or lan 102 , or a different computer system or lan and / or a database management system (“ dbms ”) 162 . as will be recognized by those skilled in the relevant art , the terms “ workstation ,” “ client ,” and “ server ” are used herein to describe a computer &# 39 ; s function in a particular context . a workstation may , for example , be a computer that one or more users work with directly , e . g ., through a keyboard and monitor directly coupled to the computer system . a computer system that requests a service through a network is often referred to as a client , and a computer system that provides a service is often referred to as a server . but any particular workstation may be indistinguishable in its hardware , configuration , operating system , and / or other software from a client , server , or both . the terms “ client ” and “ server ” may describe programs and running processes instead of or in addition to their application to computer systems described above . generally , a ( software ) client may consume information and / or computational services provided by a ( software ) server . fig3 illustrates an embodiment of an electronic delivery platform comprising a data provider data source 302 , an application portal 304 , a data source / data center 306 operated by the application portal operator , and user devices 308 . in an embodiment , developers and data providers create software components and / or digital content that may be considered to exist in a developer “ cloud ” 302 , from which they may be uploaded to the application portal 304 . the application portal 304 may receive the software component and / or content from developers and data providers that have been vetted by the application portal operator . according to some embodiments , the application portal 304 or the data center 306 may transmit the software component provided by the developer and the content provided by the data provider to one or more user devices 308 , which may be a computer , server , media player , mobile and / or cellular device , tablet , storage device , entertainment device , or other electronic device . according to some embodiments , the software component may run in a sandboxed run - time environment on user devices 308 to allow third - party digital data to safely run on such devices . in an embodiment , the application portal 304 may be based on the microsoft . net framework , with software components written in one of the . net languages , e . g ., c # or vb . net . the sandbox of the . net framework may provide runtime security by preventing software component code from interacting with the local file system , registry , or any other unnecessary local computer resources . in an embodiment , for example , the secure sandbox environment restricts application access to critical desktop resources such as the registry , file system , network , and unmanaged code , e . g ., dlls and com servers . under no circumstances , in one embodiment , will a software component running in the sandbox have the ability to launch any processes . according to some embodiments , sandbox protection is enforced using . net code access security policies . in an embodiment , each instance of a software component executes in its own . net application domain sandbox within a hosting process , as shown in fig1 . in addition to providing a secure hosting environment , the sandbox also improves overall system reliability . for example , if an individual software component encounters an unexpected error , the application portal hosting process may terminate the component , without affecting other software components . in an embodiment , the application portal 304 may rely on a private virtualized distribution of the . net framework client profile , so that a local installation is not required . according to some embodiments , when a user associated with a given user device 308 purchases a software component or data from the application portal 304 , the software component or content is delivered to the user device 308 and executed in the separate . net appdomain . in an embodiment , the application portal 304 will also monitor installed versions of software components and content , and will automatically download a new version of the software component or content when it becomes available , e . g ., when a new version with bug fixes , new functionality , or updated content is released by the developer or data provider . in an embodiment of the invention , the application portal 304 may support redownload and / or repair of damaged software components and content . according to some embodiments , application portal 304 may be configured to allow software components and content to only be downloadable , accessible , or executable on certain devices , or by certain individuals , groups , or users meeting certain criteria . according to some embodiments , application portal 304 may have moderated or non - moderated features and / or controls . in a moderated environment , in an embodiment , a “ manager ” or other party at a customer entity can control the one or more individuals or parties at the entity that may purchase and / or receive updates to software components . for example , a manager at a given entity may permit only a particular set of individuals in research & amp ; development at the manager &# 39 ; s entity to receive updates to software components , whereas the remaining individuals at the manager &# 39 ; s entity do not receive such updates . similarly , a manger at an entity may permit only a particular group of individuals to purchase software components while restricting all others at the manager &# 39 ; s entity from making app portal purchases . in a non - moderated environment , in an embodiment , once a given entity is enabled , there are minimal or no restrictions placed on individuals at the entity from purchasing and / or receiving updates to software components on the application portal . in an embodiment , software components may be supplemented by data from data center 306 , which may be operated by the operator of the application portal 304 . in another embodiment , software components may be supplemented by data from data source 302 supplied by the developer / data provider or a third - party data source , using the application portal operator &# 39 ; s data center 306 as a proxy . according to some embodiments , software components configured to be supplemented by data from data source 306 may receive triggers or alerts from data source 306 , and update the software component or content accordingly . fig4 illustrates an embodiment of an software component on the application portal 402 consuming data from a data center 404 operated by the application portal operator , e . g ., data center 306 shown in fig3 , through a software component programming interface (“ api ”) 406 . api 406 operates as an interface between application portal 402 and data center 404 , and may negate the need for application portal 402 and data center 404 to be configured to directly communicate . api 406 may also allow software components and data available on the application portal 402 to access other services and data provided by the application portal operator at data center 404 , e . g ., fetching information on financial instruments , launching a trade ticket populated with information from the software component , providing “ roaming ” information to allow a user to utilize different terminals and retain a common user profile and settings , etc . fig5 illustrates an embodiment of a software component on the application portal 402 consuming data from a data center 504 operated by the developer or other third - party data source , via the data center 506 operated by the application portal operator , and serving as a proxy . api 508 operates as an interface between application portal 502 and data center 506 , and may negate the need for application portal 502 and data center 506 to be configured to directly communicate . api 510 operates as an interface between data center 506 and data center 504 , and may negate the need for data center 506 and data center 504 to be configured to directly communicate . such a configuration may be especially advantageous as , in an embodiment , data center 506 is operated by the application portal and data center 504 is operated by a developer or other third - party data source , i . e ., data center 504 and data center 506 may not be configured to directly communicate , and can therefore rely on api 510 . fig6 illustrates an embodiment of a software component on the application portal 602 consuming data from a third - party data source 606 , with such third - party data hosted within the data center 606 operated by the application portal operator . api 604 operates as an interface between application portal 602 and data center 606 , and may negate the need for application portal 602 and data center 606 to be configured to directly communicate . fig7 illustrates an embodiment of the release process of a software component onto the application portal . in an embodiment , in step 1 ( 702 ), a software component is created on application portal 304 and assigned a unique identifier by the application portal provider . in step 2 ( 704 ), the software component is built and uploaded by the developer , passed through quality assurance checks , and prepared for release . in an embodiment , in step 3 ( 706 ), the application portal operator publishes the software component for release , pending review of the software component by the application portal operator in step 4 ( 708 ). in step 5 ( 710 ), the software component is released to entitled users . fig8 illustrates a screen that may used to display categories of software components , or data , available on the application portal . in an embodiment , the screen displays a right - hand pane comprising such categories , e . g ., automatic trading , customer relationship management , data analysis , etc ., which are individually selectable . selecting from any of the categories may lead to a screen ( not shown ) which displays the relevant software components within each category , each of which is individually selectable . fig9 illustrates a screen that may used to display the top , most - downloaded , and / or most - shared software components , or content , currently available on the application portal . in an embodiment , the screen displays a right - hand pane comprising such categories , e . g ., most downloaded and most shared , which are individually selectable . such categories may be dynamically updated at preset intervals based on current activity on the application portal . fig1 illustrates a screen that may used to display featured or most popular software components , or content , available on the application portal . featured software components on this screen may be static and chosen by a review team , or may be dynamically updated based on other criteria such as the amount of time a software component has spent on a most downloaded list . featured software components on this screen may also be displayed with graphical previews of the software component . fig1 illustrates a detail screen that may used to display data about a particular software component , or content , available on the application portal . the screen of fig1 may be accessible by searching for a particular software component or content by name or keyword using a built - in search feature ; by finding the software component or content from within one of the categories discussed above and as displayed on the left - hand pane of fig8 - 11 ; by direct - linking to the software component or content screen via , for example , a url ; or by any other means for locating an software component on the application portal . in an embodiment , the screen of fig1 displays information about the selected software component including a description , data provider information , support information , release and update dates , and price . according to embodiments , the screen may also allow the user to buy and install the software component or run a free demonstration of the software component , e . g ., a one - time trial run of the software component , or a trial run of the software component for a pre - determined time period . while the invention has been described and illustrated in connection with certain embodiments , many variations and modifications as will be evident to those skilled in this art may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention , and the invention is thus not to be limited to the precise details of methodology or construction set forth above as such variations and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as may be defined by claims .