Checking Out with the Payment Request API

Online checkout is where small interface decisions can have a real effect on a customer’s experience. In Checking Out with the Payment Request API, Alex Libby takes a practical, code-led look at using the HTML5 Payment Request API to create checkout flows for websites and online applications.

The book moves from first principles to worked projects: readers encounter setup, browser support, checkout configuration, shipping, payment handlers, and integrations with frameworks or content management systems. Its 2019 publication date matters—the examples explore the API and its landscape as they stood at that time.

From a basic checkout to a complete project

The opening chapters introduce the API, its terminology, user experience considerations, and security concerns before building a simple checkout. From there, Libby develops the example to address errors, mobile use, multiple items, currencies, gift cards, and discounts. This step-by-step progression makes it easier to see how individual checkout decisions fit into a working flow.

Shipping, payment handlers, and the details in between

Checkout involves more than collecting payment. The book also explores shipping addresses and methods, changing delivery options, restrictions, and customer-facing errors. Later, it considers integrating a payment handler, dealing with situations where no payment apps are available, and managing pending transactions.

Learn by working through examples

Rather than stopping at isolated snippets, the later projects bring the material together in a product gallery and a store-front integration for a framework or CMS. A further project explores the Payment Handler API, with attention to payment method identifiers, installation, security implications, and testing. An appendix provides an API reference.

Who may find it useful

This book is suited to website developers who already understand shopping carts and want a practical introduction to the Payment Request API. Developers on agile teams may also appreciate its focus on simplifying checkout through guided examples. Since web APIs and browser support evolve, readers should treat implementation details as a snapshot of the 2019 ecosystem and check current documentation when applying them today.