Parasoft
Encyclopedia
Parasoft is an independent software vendor with headquarters in Monrovia, California
. It was founded in 1987 by five graduates of the California Institute of Technology
who had been working on Caltech Cosmic Cube
.
For four consecutive years, the company was included in the SD Times 100, which lists 100 companies who have demonstrated leadership in shaping the software development industry. Parasoft CEO Adam Kolawa
has been recognized by eWeek
as one of the 100 Most Influential People in IT. Parasoft products have received numerous industry awards and recognitions.
The company says its objective is to reduce risks associated with developing and evolving applications by addressing application quality concerns such as security, reliability, performance, and compliance.
Parasoft's customers include Bank of America, Boeing, Disney, Ericsson, IBM, Lehman Brothers, Lockheed, Philips Electronics, AXA, Sony, Yahoo, Anheuser-Busch, Bloomberg, Cisco Systems, Freddie Mac, Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola.
authored numerous articles on defect prevention, as well as written/co-authored three books advocating defect prevention: Automated Defect Prevention: Best Practices in Software Management, Bulletproofing Web Applications, and The Next Leap in Productivity: What Top Managers Really Need to Know about Information Technology.
The Automated Defect Prevention book, which Adam Kolawa
co-authored with Dorota Huizinga, promotes the "Automated Defect Prevention" methodology. This methodology strives to ensure that quality software can be produced consistently and efficiently.
. These technologies automate a number of defect prevention practices for Java
, C
and C++
, and .NET. The static code analysis
practice identifies coding issues that lead to security, reliability, performance, and maintainability issues later on. In 1996, Parasoft submitted a patent application for their rule-based static code analysis. Since then, the original static analysis technology has been extended to include security static analysis
, data flow analysis, and software metric
s. The unit testing and component testing practices involve verifying that individual units of the programming work correctly in isolation from the rest of the application. In 1996, Parasoft submitted patent applications for technology that automatically generates unit test cases. Since then, the original unit testing technology has been extended to include code coverage analysis
and regression testing
. The peer code review practice involves manually inspecting source code to examine algorithms, review design, and search for subtle errors that automated tools cannot detect. Although the peer inspection itself cannot be automated, peer code reviews preparation, notification, and tracking can be automated.
For the SOA and enterprise IT environments, Parasoft technologies automate practices such as integration testing
, system testing
, load testing
, and penetration testing
. These practices, combined with policy enforcement, prevent security, reliability, and compliance problems that could occur with service or component-based architectures (including Service-Oriented Architecture
s, Web applications, and ESBs
). Service emulation or virtualization, which is another common practice in such environments, is also automated by Parasoft technologies. Parasoft's service and SOA quality technology was first developed in 2002.
Parasoft also develops memory error detection
technology that finds run-time errors in C
and C++
programs.
Patents were submitted for this technology in 1995 and 1996.
For software development management (e.g., Application lifecycle management
), Parasoft technologies, combined with processes, and infrastructure, are used to plan, track progress, and optimize software projects.
.
In the embedded development market, Parasoft partners with Wind River Systems
and ARM Limited.
In addition, Parasoft has partnerships with AccuRev, Hewlett-Packard
, IBM
, and MKS Inc..
Parasoft competes with organizations such as Borland
(ALM), CA, Inc. (SOA), Coverity
(static analysis), Hewlett-Packard
(SOA), IBM
(memory error detection, SOA, ALM), Itko
(SOA), Klocwork
(static analysis), Microsoft
(.NET quality), Mindreef (SOA), and Serena Software
(ALM) .
Monrovia, California
Monrovia is a city located in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 36,590 at the 2010 census, down from 36,929 at the 2000 census...
. It was founded in 1987 by five graduates of the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
who had been working on Caltech Cosmic Cube
Caltech Cosmic Cube
The Caltech Cosmic Cube was a parallel computer, developed by Charles Seitz and Geoffrey Fox from 1981 onward.It was an early attempt to capitalise on VLSI to speed up scientific calculations at a reasonable cost...
.
For four consecutive years, the company was included in the SD Times 100, which lists 100 companies who have demonstrated leadership in shaping the software development industry. Parasoft CEO Adam Kolawa
Adam Kolawa
Adam Kazimierz Kolawa was CEO and co-founder of Parasoft, a software company in Monrovia, CA that makes software development tools...
has been recognized by eWeek
EWeek
eWeek is a weekly computing business magazine published by Ziff Davis Enterprise.The magazine consists of a print publication and web site covering enterprise topics and is targeted at IT professionals rather than hobbyists.-Audience:The eWeek audience is actively involved in buying enterprise...
as one of the 100 Most Influential People in IT. Parasoft products have received numerous industry awards and recognitions.
The company says its objective is to reduce risks associated with developing and evolving applications by addressing application quality concerns such as security, reliability, performance, and compliance.
Parasoft's customers include Bank of America, Boeing, Disney, Ericsson, IBM, Lehman Brothers, Lockheed, Philips Electronics, AXA, Sony, Yahoo, Anheuser-Busch, Bloomberg, Cisco Systems, Freddie Mac, Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola.
Defect prevention
Since 1997, Parasoft has advocated a proactive, preventative approach to software application quality and security. Parasoft CEO Adam KolawaAdam Kolawa
Adam Kazimierz Kolawa was CEO and co-founder of Parasoft, a software company in Monrovia, CA that makes software development tools...
authored numerous articles on defect prevention, as well as written/co-authored three books advocating defect prevention: Automated Defect Prevention: Best Practices in Software Management, Bulletproofing Web Applications, and The Next Leap in Productivity: What Top Managers Really Need to Know about Information Technology.
The Automated Defect Prevention book, which Adam Kolawa
Adam Kolawa
Adam Kazimierz Kolawa was CEO and co-founder of Parasoft, a software company in Monrovia, CA that makes software development tools...
co-authored with Dorota Huizinga, promotes the "Automated Defect Prevention" methodology. This methodology strives to ensure that quality software can be produced consistently and efficiently.
Technologies
Parasoft develops automated defect prevention technologies that support the Automated Defect Prevention methodology developed by Adam KolawaAdam Kolawa
Adam Kazimierz Kolawa was CEO and co-founder of Parasoft, a software company in Monrovia, CA that makes software development tools...
. These technologies automate a number of defect prevention practices for Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
, C
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
and C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
, and .NET. The static code analysis
Static code analysis
Static program analysis is the analysis of computer software that is performed without actually executing programs built from that software In most cases the analysis is performed on some version of the source code and in the other cases some form of the object code...
practice identifies coding issues that lead to security, reliability, performance, and maintainability issues later on. In 1996, Parasoft submitted a patent application for their rule-based static code analysis. Since then, the original static analysis technology has been extended to include security static analysis
Secure Coding
History has proven that software defects, bugs and logic flaws are consistently the primary cause of commonly exploited software vulnerabilities. Through the analysis of thousands of reported vulnerabilities, security professionals have discovered that most vulnerabilities stem from a relatively...
, data flow analysis, and software metric
Software metric
A software metric is a measure of some property of a piece of software or its specifications. Since quantitative measurements are essential in all sciences, there is a continuous effort by computer science practitioners and theoreticians to bring similar approaches to software development...
s. The unit testing and component testing practices involve verifying that individual units of the programming work correctly in isolation from the rest of the application. In 1996, Parasoft submitted patent applications for technology that automatically generates unit test cases. Since then, the original unit testing technology has been extended to include code coverage analysis
Code coverage
Code coverage is a measure used in software testing. It describes the degree to which the source code of a program has been tested. It is a form of testing that inspects the code directly and is therefore a form of white box testing....
and regression testing
Regression testing
Regression testing is any type of software testing that seeks to uncover new errors, or regressions, in existing functionality after changes have been made to a system, such as functional enhancements, patches or configuration changes....
. The peer code review practice involves manually inspecting source code to examine algorithms, review design, and search for subtle errors that automated tools cannot detect. Although the peer inspection itself cannot be automated, peer code reviews preparation, notification, and tracking can be automated.
For the SOA and enterprise IT environments, Parasoft technologies automate practices such as integration testing
Integration testing
Integration testing is the phase in software testing in which individual software modules are combined and tested as a group. It occurs after unit testing and before validation testing...
, system testing
System testing
System testing of software or hardware is testing conducted on a complete, integrated system to evaluate the system's compliance with its specified requirements. System testing falls within the scope of black box testing, and as such, should require no knowledge of the inner design of the code or...
, load testing
Load testing
Load testing is the process of putting demand on a system or device and measuring its response. Load testing is performed to determine a system’s behavior under both normal and anticipated peak load conditions. It helps to identify the maximum operating capacity of an application as well as any...
, and penetration testing
Penetration test
A penetration test, occasionally pentest, is a method of evaluating the security of a computer system or network by simulating an attack from malicious outsiders and malicious insiders...
. These practices, combined with policy enforcement, prevent security, reliability, and compliance problems that could occur with service or component-based architectures (including Service-Oriented Architecture
Service-oriented architecture
In software engineering, a Service-Oriented Architecture is a set of principles and methodologies for designing and developing software in the form of interoperable services. These services are well-defined business functionalities that are built as software components that can be reused for...
s, Web applications, and ESBs
Enterprise service bus
An enterprise service bus is a software architecture model used for designing and implementing the interaction and communication between mutually interacting software applications in Service Oriented Architecture...
). Service emulation or virtualization, which is another common practice in such environments, is also automated by Parasoft technologies. Parasoft's service and SOA quality technology was first developed in 2002.
Parasoft also develops memory error detection
Memory debugger
A memory debugger is a programming tool for finding memory leaks and buffer overflows. These are due to bugs related to the allocation and deallocation of dynamic memory. Programs written in languages that have garbage collection, such as managed code, might also need memory debuggers, e.g...
technology that finds run-time errors in C
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
and C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
programs.
Patents were submitted for this technology in 1995 and 1996.
For software development management (e.g., Application lifecycle management
Application lifecycle management
Application Lifecycle Management is a continuous process of managing the life of an application through governance, development and maintenance...
), Parasoft technologies, combined with processes, and infrastructure, are used to plan, track progress, and optimize software projects.
Related companies
Parasoft’s partners in the SOA quality market include Amberpoint and Software AGSoftware AG
Founded in 1969, Software AG is an enterprise software company with over 10,000 enterprise customers in over 70 countries. The company is the second largest software vendor in Germany, the fourth in Europe and among the top 25 globally...
.
In the embedded development market, Parasoft partners with Wind River Systems
Wind River Systems
Wind River Systems, Inc. is a company providing embedded systems, development tools for embedded systems, middleware, and other types of software. The company was founded in Berkeley, California in 1981 by Jerry Fiddler and David Wilner. On June 4, 2009, Wind River announced that Intel had bought...
and ARM Limited.
In addition, Parasoft has partnerships with AccuRev, Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, and MKS Inc..
Parasoft competes with organizations such as Borland
Borland
Borland Software Corporation is a software company first headquartered in Scotts Valley, California, Cupertino, California and finally Austin, Texas. It is now a Micro Focus subsidiary. It was founded in 1983 by Niels Jensen, Ole Henriksen, Mogens Glad and Philippe Kahn.-The 1980s:...
(ALM), CA, Inc. (SOA), Coverity
Coverity
Coverity is a software vendor based in San Francisco. It was incorporated in November 2002. It develops static code analysis tools, for C, C++ and other programming languages, used to find defects and security vulnerabilities in source code...
(static analysis), Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
(SOA), IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
(memory error detection, SOA, ALM), Itko
Itko
ITKO is an enterprise software company based in Plano, Texas. ITKO's LISA product suite is designed to improve the effectiveness of application development teams, especially those involved in custom applications, SOA, and cloud computing...
(SOA), Klocwork
Klocwork
Klocwork is a software company with headquarters in Burlington, MA and R&D based in Ottawa, ON, Canada. Klocwork was founded in 2001 as a spin-out of Nortel Networks and has over 850 customers who use its software development tools.-Products:...
(static analysis), Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
(.NET quality), Mindreef (SOA), and Serena Software
Serena Software
Serena Software Inc is US-based software company.Serena develops and markets products focused on managing change across information technology environments...
(ALM) .