1. A computer storage device having stored thereon one or more computer-executable instruction(s) that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing system, cause the computing system to generate a composite view of visual items, including the following: the computing system executing a data-model binding component that binds canonical data to corresponding model parameters of a plurality of model parameters; the computing system executing a modeling component that 1) defines analytical relationships between the plurality of model parameters, 2) identifies which of the plurality of model parameters are input model parameter(s) and which are output model parameter(s), 3) solves for the output model parameter(s) that are identified as being output model parameter(s), and 4) makes the solved-for output model parameter(s) available to a model-visual binding component, such that the value(s) of the plurality of model parameters may be bound to parameter(s) of the parameterized view components, the modeling component including one or more solvers that are implemented using a plurality of spreadsheets, the one or more solvers being configured to solve in different solve directions depending on which of the plurality of model parameters are identified as being input model parameter(s) and which of the plurality of model parameters are identified as being output model parameter(s), each of the plurality of spreadsheets corresponding to a different solve direction and containing appropriate expressions for solving in the corresponding solve direction; the computing system executing a view components repository that contains a plurality of heterogeneous view components, each view component corresponding to a visual item that may be displayed, and at least some of the view components being parameterized; the computing system executing a model-visual binding component that binds the plurality of model parameter values to parameter(s) of at least one of the parameterized view components contained within the view components repository; and the computing system executing a view composition module that formulates instructions for rendering a view that contains at least some of the visual items corresponding to the plurality of heterogeneous view components, wherein for at least some of the visual items that are to be rendered in the view, view component logic associated with the corresponding view component dictates the manner in which the rendering of the visual item occurs such that the rendering is dependent upon one or more parameters of the corresponding view component.