Jump to content

Perforce

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected fromPerforce Helix)
Perforce Software, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryVersion controlsoftware,application lifecycle management,Gitrepository management, developer collaboration tools, platform automation tools, andAgile planningsoftware
Founded1995;29 years ago(1995)inAlameda, California,U.S.
FounderChristopher Seiwald
HeadquartersMinneapolis, Minnesota,U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Christopher Seiwald (Founder)
  • Jim Cassens (CEO)
  • Janet Dryer (Chair)
Products
Owner
Number of employees
1,200 (2022)[1]
Websiteperforce.com

Perforce Software, Inc.is an American developer of software used for developing and running applications, includingversion controlsoftware, web-based repository management, developer collaboration,application lifecycle management,web application servers, debugging tools, platform automation, andagile planningsoftware.

The company is based inMinneapolis, Minnesota,and is equally owned by private equity firms Clearlake Capital andFrancisco Partners.[2][3]

History

[edit]

Perforce Software was founded in 1995 inAlameda, Californiaby Christopher Seiwald, a software developer and computer science graduate fromUC Berkeley.[4]Its first product was also called Perforce, and was a version control system allowing companies to collaborate on large software projects by keeping track of changes to both the source code and binary files.[4][5]

In June 2013, the company released Helix Swarm, a tool for developers working in different geographic areas to collaborate on code review.[6]

In June 2014, the company released a version of its Perforce versioning engine, then known as P4D, which supportedconcurrency.[7]

In March 2015, the company renamed its product to Perforce Helix, which now supporteddistributed developmentand included security features allowing suspicious usage tracking.[8]Helix's security capabilities included IP threat detection, co-developed with analytics vendor Interset.[9]In October, the company collaborated withGitLabto release GitSwarm, a software tool that combined git distributed workflow for developers with Perforce's single code repository.[10]

In February 2016, Seiwald sold the company to investment groupSummit Partners,and Janet Dryer was named as new CEO.[11]The company headquarters was relocated to Minneapolis.[12]In November, Perforce announced the acquisition ofSeapine Software,a provider ofapplication lifecycle management(ALM) tools.[13]Seapine's TestTrack ALM software was rebranded as Helix ALM.[14]

In September 2017, the company acquiredUppsala, Sweden-based Hansoft, a developer of Agile planning software.[15]Also in September, Perforce announced it had acquired Finnish repository management services company Deveo.[16]Deveo's products were merged into Perforce's Helix TeamHub, its first solo venture for Git-based development teams.

In January 2018, Summit Partners sold Perforce to private equity firm Clearlake Capital.[2]In May, Perforce acquired UK-basedProgramming Research(PRQA), astatic code analysisfirm.[17]In June, the company announced that CEO Janet Dryer was moving to the role of Chair of the Board, and COO/CFO Mark Ties was taking the role of CEO.[18]In October, the company acquired mobile and web automation testing company Perfecto.[19]

In January 2019, Perforce announced the acquisition ofRogue Wave Software,a software company with a focus on development tools forhigh-performance computing.[20]In April, private equity firm Francisco Partners acquired 50% of Perforce, becoming an equal partner with Clearlake Capital.[3]In September, Perforce Software was awarded the2019 Computer Entertainment Developers Conference (CEDEC) Awardfor Engineering for Helix Core.[21][22]

In June 2020, Perforce acquired software developer TestCraft Technologies, a provider of automatedSelenium-based web application testing.[23]In July, Perforce acquired software developer Methodics, a DevOps software provider of intellectual property life cycle management for semiconductor companies.[24]

In October 2021, Perforce agreed to buyBlazeMetertesting platform fromBroadcom Incfor an undisclosed sum.[25]

In April 2022, Perforce acquired thePortland, Oregon-based infrastructure automation software platform,Puppet.[26][1]

In March 2024, Perforce acquired theRedwood City, California-based test data management software, Delphix.[27]

Products

[edit]

Perforce develops software used by software developers to manage code during the development process. The product line includes the following:

Helix Core

[edit]
Helix Core
Initial release1995;29 years ago(1995)
Stable release
2022.1/2305383[28] / June 30, 2022;2 years ago(2022-06-30)
Operating systemAIX,FreeBSD,HP-UX,Linux,macOS,NetBSD,Solaris,Windows
TypeRevision control
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.perforce.com/products/helix-core

Helix Core, formerly Perforce Helix, is the company'sversion controlsoftware for large scale development environments.[29]The Helix Version Control System manages a centraldatabaseand a masterrepositoryoffileversions.

Helix Core clients fall into roughly five categories:Git,command,GUI,web,andplugin.The Perforce system can make part or all of its content available as Git repositories. Users of Git and of other clients can work with the same file content and history. Git commits are visible to users of other clients as Perforce changelists, and vice versa. Users submit changed files together inchangelists,which are applied asatomic commits.

The server and client software are released as pre-builtexecutablesforMicrosoft Windows,macOS,Linux,Solaris,FreeBSD,and otheroperating systems.

Helix ALM

[edit]
Main article:Helix ALM
Helix ALM
Initial releaseMarch 1996;28 years ago(1996-03)
Stable release
2022.1.0 / May 9, 2022;2 years ago(2022-05-09)
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows,Linux,Mac OS X
TypeBug tracking system,project management software
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.perforce.com/products/helix-alm

Helix ALM, formerlyTestTrack,is a suite of tools used for application lifecycle management (ALM), allowing developers to manage all their product and system development phases with one product.[13][14]The software was originally developed by Seapine Software, which was acquired by Perforce and rebranded.[30]Helix ALM provides a centralized suite of capabilities for managing requirements, defects, issues and testing throughout the software development cycle.[31]

There are three components of the suite:[32]

  • Helix RM for requirements management
  • Helix IM for issue tracking and management
  • Helix TCM for test case management

Helix QAC

[edit]
Main article:Helix QAC

The company develops the Helix QACstatic code analysissoftware tool for theCandC++programming languages.[33]

Other products and services

[edit]
  • Helix TeamHub is a code and artifact hosting and developer collaboration tool that supports development in Git environments, in addition toApache SubversionandMercurial.[34]
  • Helix Swarm is a development tool integrated with Helix Core, that allows geographically dispersed developers to coordinate their code review.[6]
  • Hansoft is software used to support agile software development.[15]
  • Perfecto is a testing platform for desktop and mobile apps.[19]
  • TestCraft is an automated Selenium-based web application testing platform.[23]

With the January 2019 Rogue Wave acquisition, Perforce acquired the following products:

  • Akana– a provider of computer software products forapplication programming interface(API) management
  • CodeDynamics – a software tool for dynamic code analysis[35]
  • Gliffy– software for diagramming via anHTML5cloud-basedapp
  • HostAccess – a suite of terminal emulation products for Windows[citation needed]
  • HydraExpress – a framework for creatingC++Web services from existing C++ code[36]
  • IMSL Numerical Libraries– a commercial collection ofsoftware librariesofnumerical analysisfunctionality for computer programming
  • PV-WAVE– an array oriented fourth-generation programming language used to build and deploy visual data analysis applications
  • JRebel and XRebel – Java development and performance management tools for software developers[37]
  • Klocwork– astatic code analysistool
  • SourcePro – software that enables developers to build C++ apps using common APIs that can be migrated from one platform to another[38]
  • Stingray – a tool for developing object oriented front ends for Windows programming[39]
  • TotalView for HPC – Debugging software for C/C++, Fortran, and Mixed-Language Python Applications[40]
  • Visualization – data visualization tools to assist with application development, including a GUI builder and data management abstraction capabilities[41]
  • Zend Server– a web application server for running and managingPHPapplications
  • Zend Studio– a commercial, proprietaryintegrated development environment(IDE) forPHP

In addition, Perforce also acquired OpenLogic, a consulting organization with expertise in open source software from Rogue Wave.[42]

Offices

[edit]

The company is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with additional offices worldwide.[43]

References

[edit]
  1. ^abSpencer, Malia; Jones, Carter (2022-04-11)."Perforce Software buys pioneering Portland software maker Puppet".American City Business Journals.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-11-06.
  2. ^ab"Clearlake Capital Buys Perforce Software".socaltech.com.2018-01-10.Retrieved2018-01-11.
  3. ^ab"Francisco Partners, Clearlake link on Perforce deal".pitchbook.com.2019-05-01.Retrieved2019-05-15.
  4. ^ab"The Light Touch - How a Hands-off CEO Marshals the Forces and Customers".alamedamagazine.com.2008-04-11. Archived fromthe originalon 2017-12-07.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  5. ^"Perforce updates cross-platform interface for software versioning tool".macworld.com.2008-03-10.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  6. ^ab"Perforce Swarm, A Developer Platform To Compete With The Likes Of GitHub and Atlassian".techcrunch.com.2013-06-12.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  7. ^"Perforce introduces concurrency technology into versioning platform".sdtimes.com.2014-06-11.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  8. ^"Perforce goes fully distributed in source-code management".sdtimes.com.2015-03-04.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  9. ^"Using Log Data And Machine Learning To Weed Out The Bad Guys".forbes.com.2015-03-27.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  10. ^"New Perforce Tool Gives Developers What They Love And IT What It Needs".techcrunch.com.2010-10-06.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  11. ^"Summit Partners acquires Alameda's Perforce Software".mercurynews.com.2016-02-03.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  12. ^"Face Time: Perforce Software CEO Janet Dryer".bizjournals.com.2017-01-10.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  13. ^ab"Perforce acquires ALM provider Seapine Software".sdtimes.com.2016-11-17.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  14. ^ab"Perforce puts Seapine Software acquisition to use with rebranded TestTrack ALM".pocketgamer.biz.2017-05-30.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  15. ^ab"Perforce acquires Agile planning tool provider Hansoft".sdtimes.com.2017-09-26.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  16. ^"Finnish Deveo snapped up by US company Perforce".goodnewsfinland.com.2017-09-15. Archived fromthe originalon 2017-11-22.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  17. ^"Clearlake-backed Perforce Software acquires Programming Research".pehub.com.2018-05-02.Retrieved2018-07-09.
  18. ^"CEO Janet Dryer leads second company to Top Workplaces ranking".startribune.com.2018-06-21.Retrieved2018-07-11.
  19. ^ab"Perforce to acquire mobile and web testing provider Perfecto".sdtimes.com.2018-10-08.Retrieved2018-12-21.
  20. ^"Perforce expands DevOps portfolio with Rogue Wave acquisition".sdtimes.com.2019-01-22.Retrieved2019-01-23.
  21. ^"CEDEC AWARDS 2019".CGWorld(in Japanese). 2019-09-09.Retrieved2020-04-09.
  22. ^Koc, Guler; Aydos, Murat; Tekerek, Mehmet (September 2019). "Evaluation of Trustworthy Scrum Employment for Agile Software Development based on the Views of Software Developers".2019 4th International Conference on Computer Science and Engineering (UBMK).IEEE. pp. 63–67.doi:10.1109/ubmk.2019.8907213.ISBN978-1-7281-3964-7.S2CID208208412.
  23. ^ab"Perforce Acquires TestCraft".Devops Digest.2020-06-18.Retrieved2020-08-07.
  24. ^"SD Times news digest: Perforce Software acquires Methodics, Android basics in Kotlin, and TileDB's round of funding".SD Times.2020-07-20.Retrieved2020-08-07.
  25. ^Jones, Carter (2021-10-01)."Perforce buys BlazeMeter testing platform from Broadcom".American City Business Journals.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-11-06.
  26. ^"Perforce Software acquires Puppet".TechCrunch.11 April 2022.Retrieved2022-04-11.
  27. ^"Perforce Completes Acquisition of Delphix".Perforce.25 March 2024.Retrieved2024-03-25.
  28. ^"Software Release Index - Perforce".www.perforce.com.
  29. ^"Massive Git: Perforce Helix4Git is Git at scale".techtarget.com.2017-05-29.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  30. ^"Perforce puts Seapine Software acquisition to use with rebranded TestTrack ALM".30 May 2017.Retrieved2017-06-17.
  31. ^Lockwood, Anthony (2014-03-19)."Editor's Pick: Product Development Management Suite Updated".Desktop Engineering.Archived fromthe originalon 2016-03-03.Retrieved2018-01-17.
  32. ^"Seapine Puts the Pro in Productivity".SD Times.2008-09-01. Archived from the original on 2013-10-30.Retrieved2018-01-12.{{cite news}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  33. ^"Perforce Adds Slack Support to Helix ALM".itprotoday.com.2018-10-27.Retrieved2018-12-07.
  34. ^"Perforce Launches Helix TeamHub".devopsdigest.com.2017-09-12.Retrieved2017-11-21.
  35. ^"Software testing is all about automation".SD Times.2016-02-29.Retrieved2020-04-22.
  36. ^"Rogue Wave eats Acumem".The Register.2010-10-04.Retrieved2020-04-22.
  37. ^"Rogue Wave acquires ZeroTurnaround for its Java developer tools".SD Times.2017-11-29.Retrieved2020-04-22.
  38. ^"Rogue Wave Unveils SourcePro Upgrade".ADT Mag.2005-08-02.Retrieved2020-04-23.
  39. ^"Rogue Buys Stingray".Computerworld.1998-01-26.Retrieved2020-04-23.
  40. ^"An Interface to Support the Identification of Dynamic MPI 2 Processes for Scalable Parallel Debugging".Research Gate.2006-09-01.Retrieved2020-04-23.
  41. ^"Going Rogue (Wave) Over ILOG C++".Dr. Dobbs.2012-05-11.Retrieved2020-04-23.
  42. ^"Rogue Wave plans to use OpenLogic's portfolio to roll out solutions intended to help developers search and write better open source codes faster".ZDNet.2013-08-22.Retrieved2020-01-29.
  43. ^"Contact us".perforce.com.Retrieved2020-10-19.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Perforce&oldid=1247293121#Helix_Core"