MySpace will allow software developers to sign up starting Wednesday for the software that will allow them to use applications for the popular social network.

Next Tuesday MySpace will launch “Developer Platform” which was announced since October. It will have API tools in order for the users to build and test applications for MySpace.

MySpace worked along with Google to develop the tools and it will let developers to create programs like those used by programmers on rival site Facebook, BBC News informs.

Facebook launched the same kind of platform last year and recorded a great success, having 15,000 applications written for the site.

Amit Kapur, who was recently named COO of the company, said: “This gives developers deeper access to our community through APIs so they'll be able to build richer applications and also gives them an opportunity to build their business directly on MySpace. It's a natural step in the evolution of how we've worked with third party developers,” Washington Post reports.

Among the applications are photo-sharing and music recommendation tools.

Even so, Facebook is still far behind MySpace, which has around 200 million registered users while Facebook has only 63 million.

In 2005 MySpace was bought for $580 million by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

The tools, created along with Google, will be available starting February 5 and developers will be able to build applications in their profile and connections with others.

Kapur said: "A key interest we have as we launch this platform is to protect the user experience against things like application spam and security holes, so that'll be a major part of our launch. We're extremely committed to safety and security."