1. A computer-implemented method for utilizing non-native widgets within a visualization authoring environment, the method comprising: providing the visualization authoring environment configured to enable a developer to define a user interface appearance and behavior of a prospective software application or a prospective modification to an existing software application at least in part by incorporating native widgets; providing in the visualization authoring environment a facility to enable a user to incorporate one or more non-native widgets into the visualization authoring environment without requiring acquisition or installation of a new version of the visualization authoring environment; providing in the visualization authoring environment a facility to enable the user to incorporate non-native widgets into a visualization project; visually distinguishing non-native widgets from the native widgets within the visualization authoring environment; ensuring that each of the non-native widgets has a unique identifier comprising version information, wherein a first of the non-native widgets is from a first provider and has a first unique identifier and a second of the non-native widgets is from a second provider and has a second unique identifier; at least partly in response to detecting the presence of a new non-native widget from the first provider, validating that contents of at least one file representing the new non-native widget from the first provider conforms to a first schema; and at least partly in response to detecting the presence of a new non-native widget from the second provider, validating that contents of at least one file representing the new non-native widget from the second provider conforms to the first schema; providing in the visualization authoring environment a facility to enable the user to modify one or more of the following attributes of an instance of a first non-native widget: size, position, connections between the first non-native widget and other widgets; and providing in a visualization rendering environment a facility to exhibit a desired visual rendering and interactive behavior during rendering of the visualization project.