ABOUT THIS BOOK:
PayPal Hacks is a book about developing software and websites that use PayPal. When deciding on what example code to include, we the authors thought it made sense to write most of the code for one programming platform, the idea being that any programmer could get used to the example code style and learn the concepts more quickly that way. We chose Microsoft Active Server Pages--ASP and ASP.NET--because it is a popular programming platform that does both scripting and SOAP calls well. Our plan worked fairly well, and we've received comments about the book such as "Will Repay Its Cover Price Quickly" and "the writing is [clear], lucid, and concise."
The downside, however, is that programmers who don't write code in ASP are left with examples they can't readily use. So we've received some remarks such as "too Microsoft-centric" and even "Could have been useful,
In the end, we chose to write the example code for one simple, yet full-featured platform: ASP. The examples are primarily in Visual Basic (VBScript), with the API chapter primarily in C#. We also provided a URL, www.paypalhacks.com, for readers to download more resources, including implementations of the example code in other languages (more about that in a minute).
Still, we've learned from experience. Next time, perhaps in an update to the PayPal Hacks book, we'll do more. We'll add tips and some example code in other languages--in the book as well as online--making the content more heterogeneous. Plus, we'll emphasize the online examples in the book better, so the reader is aware that they exist. Finally, we'll explain the pros and cons of each language in the hacks.
PayPal was born and raised from a pup in the heterogeneous environment of the Internet, not the sterile hegemony of a corporate American mill town like Redmond or Armonk. PayPal Hacks will be an even better resource once we embrace that heritage.
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