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In a move to bolster its software testing capabilities, Telerik, a maker of software development tools, has announced its acquisition of the Fiddler Web Debugger, a popular tool created to inspect Web traffic and “fiddle” with incoming or outgoing data.
As part of the acquisition, Fiddler’s creator Eric Lawrence will join Telerik’s testing tools division, in Austin, Texas.
With thousands of daily downloads, Fiddler can debug traffic from virtually any application that supports a proxy, including all modern Web browsers, Telerik officials said. Fiddler, a free tool, is browser-agnostic and lets developers see HTTP messages from any program. Users can debug traffic from popular mobile devices including the iPod, iPad and Android-based devices. In addition, Fiddler includes a scripting subsystem and can be extended using any .NET language.
“For the last eight-plus years, Fiddler has been my passion,” Lawrence said in a statement. “With this move, Telerik has given me the opportunity to make it 100 percent of my focus. We have great plans for the advancement of Fiddler including creating an improved user interface and enhanced support for popular platforms. Together, we’re committed to ensuring the developer community has a top-quality tool that’s free to use and is fully-supported by enterprise investment.”
As part of the acquisition, Fiddler will remain a free tool and will be part of the Telerik Test Studio product family. Fiddler is already in use as the core technology behind Telerik Test Studio’s load and performance features. And Lawrence will lend his knowledge and expertise to the advancement of the overall testing product portfolio. Telerik is an end-to-end provider of software application, lifecycle and content management solutions,
“Our strategy has always been to acquire when it makes sense and to use the new technology to improve our core products for the benefit of our customers,” said Christopher Eyhorn, executive vice president of the Telerik Testing Tools Division, in a statement. “In the case of Fiddler, this was a natural extension because we are already leveraging it within our solutions. Further, we have learned from the mistakes of others who have acquired free tools only to turn the tables on the developer community and monetize them at a later date. We respect what Fiddler has delivered to the community and want to expand that value by giving it the appropriate enterprise-level support. Additionally, with Eric joining our team, we gain a formidable competitive edge. The collaboration for enhancing Fiddler is already under way as well as discussions to further expand our portfolio and extend support for our customers.”
“The acquisition of Fiddler by Telerik is great news for the community,” said Ed Musters, principal architect at software development shop Infusion, in a statement. “I use Fiddler extensively and I feel this collaboration will make Fiddler even better at helping me perform my job. I am counting on rapid development cycles and UI enhancements that I [am] already used to as Telerik customer. I see great synergy in this union, which will undoubtedly result in new advancements that will benefit the developer community in particular.”