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Michael Balderas

Editor

Mary Treseler

Copyright © 2011 O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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Nutshell Handbook, the Nutshell Handbook logo, and the O’Reilly logo are registered trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc. PayPal APIs: Up and Running, the image of an African wildcat, and related trade dress are trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc.

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Preface

Virtually every application delivery model is experiencing a surging demand for transaction convenience. In this book, I introduce PayPal APIs, along with instructions and resources for their integration in different environments, including websites and mobile applications.

Goals of This Book

The goal of this book is to help you understand what PayPal has to offer. Let’s face it, you want to get money from your customers into your bank account as quickly as possible, and I want to help you accomplish this. By the end of this book, you will have a better understanding of what PayPal is, how PayPal can streamline your payments, and how to get the most out of PayPal for your particular payment situation.

Who Should Read This Book

This book is for anyone who wants to accept payments for their goods or services through PayPal. You might be an individual with an open source project looking to accept donations, a multimillion-dollar corporation, a nonprofit requesting donations to help a cause, or a software developer writing mobile apps for cell phones. PayPal can provide you with solutions, no matter who you are. The code samples in this book are provided in PHP and Objective-C, and limited code coverage of Droid is included in Chapter 5. An understanding of using APIs is recommended, but not required.

How This Book Is Organized

Here is a brief summary of the chapters in the book and what you can expect from each:

Chapter 1, The PayPal API

Covers the PayPal API and how to start using it to accept payments, with an emphasis on choosing an integration method for your project as well as obtaining the necessary credentials to get started. I also cover how to use the sandbox to test your application.

Chapter 2, PayPal Express Checkout

Covers Express Checkout and how to use the API to execute Express Checkout Payments. This chapter contrasts the Generic (or Traditional) checkout workflow with the Express Checkout workflow. All four of the Express Checkout operations (SetExpressCheckout, GetExpressCheckoutDetails, DoExpressCheckoutPayment, and Callback) are covered.

Chapter 3, PayPal Website Payments Pro

Covers Website Payments Pro, with an emphasis on Direct Payments. I demonstrate the Direct Payment workflow in a sample transaction. A simple Direct Payment Integration sample is also included.

Chapter 4, PayPal Adaptive Payments

Covers Adaptive Payments, including an overview of Adaptive Payments as well as a breakdown of the Permission Levels provided via Adaptive Payments. Application workflows, Payment Approval, and Payment flows are also included.

Chapter 5, PayPal Mobile Express Checkout

Covers Mobile Checkout, with an emphasis on the newly released Mobile Express Checkout and the Mobile Payment Libraries for iOS- and Droid-based smartphones.

Conventions Used in This Book

The following typographical conventions