.406 Ventures

Mashery Accelerates API Success with Open Source Developer Tools

July 19, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO – July 19, 2012 – Mashery, the leading provider of API Management technology platforms and services, today announced new additions to its successful suite of open source API Power Tools. Designed as painkillers that enable developers to create and release apps faster, Mashery’s API Power Tools now include I/O Wraps, a new API client library tool. As the API equivalent of an SDK (Software Development Kit), I/O Wraps gives developers externally built open source resources native to a variety of programming languages.

Public APIs are currently experiencing record growth because they enable developers across every industry to accelerate app development. Mashery created I/O Wraps based on feedback received from its 160,000-strong developer base. Developed under open source licenses to encourage collaboration and accelerate adoption of APIs, I/O Wraps launches today with Mashery customers USA TODAY (http://developer.usatoday.com) and Whit.li (http://developer.whit.li) both offering PHP and Java SDKs created with I/O Wraps.

“APIs that are frustrating to work with often fail to attract the necessary level of developer engagement,” said Delyn Simons, Vice President of Developer Platform, Mashery. “The overwhelming response to Mashery’s open source I/O Docs project over the last year revealed to us that the competition for developer mindshare and talent is heating up. APIs with strong open source developer tools are more accessible and are therefore more likely to succeed.”

The benefits of language-specific client libraries for API providers speak for themselves, and deliver a community benefit aligned with the principles of the open source movement. And for developers, the benefits resolve many common API integration pain points – a clean consistent interface, the ability to execute live API calls for accelerated learning, method exploration, and testing from a single location.

After just more than a year in the market, I/O Docs, Mashery’s first open source API Power Tool, has seen adoption by over 30 major API providers. In the spirit of open source development, several leaders in the online platform and tools space, including SendGrid, HubSpot, DataSift and DocuSign, have contributed code back to the project or integrated it into their API for developer use.

"Implementing I/O Docs for SendGrid has been extremely valuable to both our customers and our support team,” said SendGrid API Evangelist Brandon West. “I/O Docs lets developers see exactly what they are going to get from our API without having to write a line of code, and it helps support test and debug API calls without having to use command line tools. It's a win for everyone."

Mashery also announced the availability of I/O Alfred, a developer tool for integrating API calls in the Alfred Mac tool. Mashery has created a set of Alfred app extensions that use the Rovi, Klout, Twitter and Twilio APIs to give Mac users access to useful information, such as movie data and social influence scores. I/O Wraps and I/O Alfred join existing open source developer tools offered by Mashery, including interactive API documentation, HTML5 code samples, OAuth Helpers for JavaScript and .NET, and more.

Mashery’s API Power Tools are available at: http://mashery.github.com

About Mashery

Mashery, the world’s leading provider of API Management technology platforms and services, helps power 50,000 apps for more than 150 top brands—including USA TODAY, Comcast, Hoover’s, Klout, Associated Press, Rdio and Expedia. Mashery helps companies build API-powered platforms for opening new distribution channels, speeding time-to-market, and spurring innovation. Mashery takes a holistic approach to APIs -- from crafting platform strategy and setting business objectives, to managing API delivery and facilitating relationships with a network of 160,000 developers. Mashery was founded in 2006.

About Mashery

Mashery, the world’s leading provider of API technology and services, helps more than 100 top brands—including USA TODAY, Hoover’s, Klout, Associated Press, RDIO and Expedia—build digital distribution platforms that open new distribution channels, speed time-to-market, and spur innovation. Mashery takes a holistic approach to APIs—from crafting platform strategy and setting business objectives, to managing API delivery and facilitating relationships with a network of 130,000 developers. Mashery was founded in 2006.

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