Study Guide

Table Of Contents
PayPal Certified Developer Program Study Guide March 2008 105
9
Sandbox Testing
In this chapter, you will learn:
z How to set up test users in the Sandbox
z How to test various aspects of an integrated e-commerce application in the Sandbox
z How to migrate the application to use the live PayPal server
Overview
The PayPal Sandbox is a self-contained environment within which you can prototype and test
PayPal features and APIs without using real money or impacting your production system’s
PayPal accounts. The PayPal Sandbox is an almost-identical copy of the live PayPal website.
Its purpose is to give developers a shielded environment for testing and integration purposes,
to help avoid problems that might occur while testing PayPal integration solutions on the live
site. Before moving any PayPal-based application into production, test the application in the
Sandbox to ensure that it functions as you intend.
At a Glance: Differences between the Sandbox and Live PayPal
Table 9.1 compares the Sandbox and Live PayPal. This is a high-level view of the differences
from a developers perspective. You also can use this table as a checklist.
TABLE 9.1 Differences between PayPal Sandbox, and Live PayPal
Item PayPal Sandbox
Live PayPal Website and
API Service
Type of
PayPal
Accounts
Depending on the feature you want to develop and
test, you need a Personal, Business, or Premier
account.
Personal, Business, or Premier account
Site logos in
upper left
corner
https://www.sandbox.paypal.com
https://www.paypal.com
NVP API
Servers
https://api.sandbox.paypal.com/nvp/ For API certificate security:
https://api.paypal.com/nvp/
For API signature security:
https://api-3t.paypal.com/nvp/