Praxis High Integrity Systems
Encyclopedia
Altran Praxis is a British software house
that specialises in critical systems. They are based in Manvers Street, Bath, England
, close to Bath Spa railway station
, and also have offices in London
, Loughborough
, Paris
, Sophia Antipolis
, and Bangalore
.
The company Praxis Systems Limited was founded by Martyn Thomas
and David Bean in 1983.
It was incorporated on June 1, 1983 and commenced business on July 1, 1983.
On June 28, 1985 it became a Public limited company
Praxis Systems plc.
Until 1988 Praxis was owned almost entirely by its staff.
In 1988 Praxis obtained venture capital finance in order to provide funds for future acquisitions and working capital for continued growth.
On November 27, 1992 Praxis was acquired by Deloitte Consulting (then known as Touche Ross), an international firm of accountants and management consultants.
The critical systems part of the company was acquired by the Altran Group in 1997.
In 2004, Praxis Critical Systems and HIS Consulting merged to form Praxis High Integrity Systems. In January 2010, the company was merged with SC2 by Altran to form Altran Praxis.
A distinguishing feature of the company is its extensive use of formal methods
such as the Z notation
and the SPARK toolset (acquired through the takeover of the developers Program Validation Limited in 1994) in its approach to improving the reliability of software engineering
. A major project using Z has been an enhancement for the United Kingdom
's National Air Traffic Services
(NATS).
Software house
A software house is a company whose primary products are software.- Types :There are a number of different types of software houses:*Large and well-known companies such as Microsoft, SAP AG, Oracle Corporation, HP, Adobe Systems, Apple Inc...
that specialises in critical systems. They are based in Manvers Street, Bath, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, close to Bath Spa railway station
Bath Spa railway station
Bath Spa railway station is the principal railway station in the city of Bath, in South West England.-Architecture:Bath Spa station was built in 1840 for the Great Western Railway by Brunel and is a grade II* listed building...
, and also have offices in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Sophia Antipolis
Sophia Antipolis
Sophia Antipolis is a technology park northwest of Antibes and southwest of Nice, France. Much of the park falls within the commune of Valbonne. Created in 1970-84, it houses primarily companies in the fields of computing, electronics, pharmacology and biotechnology. Several institutions of higher...
, and Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
.
The company Praxis Systems Limited was founded by Martyn Thomas
Martyn Thomas
Martyn Thomas CBE FREng FBCS FIET FRSA is a British independent consultant and software engineer. He founded the software engineering company Praxis in 1983, based in Bath, southern England. He has a special interest in safety-critical systems and other high integrity applications...
and David Bean in 1983.
It was incorporated on June 1, 1983 and commenced business on July 1, 1983.
On June 28, 1985 it became a Public limited company
Public limited company
A public limited company is a limited liability company that sells shares to the public in United Kingdom company law, in the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth jurisdictions....
Praxis Systems plc.
Until 1988 Praxis was owned almost entirely by its staff.
In 1988 Praxis obtained venture capital finance in order to provide funds for future acquisitions and working capital for continued growth.
On November 27, 1992 Praxis was acquired by Deloitte Consulting (then known as Touche Ross), an international firm of accountants and management consultants.
The critical systems part of the company was acquired by the Altran Group in 1997.
In 2004, Praxis Critical Systems and HIS Consulting merged to form Praxis High Integrity Systems. In January 2010, the company was merged with SC2 by Altran to form Altran Praxis.
A distinguishing feature of the company is its extensive use of formal methods
Formal methods
In computer science and software engineering, formal methods are a particular kind of mathematically-based techniques for the specification, development and verification of software and hardware systems...
such as the Z notation
Z notation
The Z notation , named after Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory, is a formal specification language used for describing and modelling computing systems. It is targeted at the clear specification of computer programs and computer-based systems in general.-History:...
and the SPARK toolset (acquired through the takeover of the developers Program Validation Limited in 1994) in its approach to improving the reliability of software engineering
Software engineering
Software Engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering to software...
. A major project using Z has been an enhancement for the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's National Air Traffic Services
National Air Traffic Services
NATS Ltd. is the main air navigation service provider in the United Kingdom. It provides en-route air traffic control services to flights within the UK Flight Information Regions and the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area, and provides air traffic control services to fifteen UK airports and Gibraltar...
(NATS).
See also
- Anthony HallJ. Anthony HallJ. Anthony Hall FREng is a leading British software engineer specializing in the use of formal methods, especially the Z notation.Anthony Hall was educated at the University of Oxford with a BA in chemistry and a DPhil in theoretical chemistry...
, a former employee, now a consultant - IPSE (Praxis was a key participant in the influential IPSE2.5 project)
- APSYSAPSYSAPSYS , is a subsidiary of Cassidian . APSYS was created in 1985 and specializes in safety and reliability engineering for Life-critical system, using techniques such as ZSA, PRA, FMECA and Fault Tree Analysis...