Getting an API up. Where I can start

[scrubbicus]

I'm looking where I can get started with adding an API to my website. What I'm looking to do is currently I have the basic form that enables the person to enter their e-mail address and then the page is sent to the constant contact website where they enter there first and last name to add to a newsletter. I need to be able to create my own form and when the person submits their data it gets added to my constant contact contact list but it stays on my website without transferring them. Well I'm the webmaster of this site and I'm proficient at programming but this is the first time I've used APIs. Any help would be appreciated. In the meantime I'm going to be browsing this site some more.

Thanks.

[DaveBerard]

The two best resources for getting started are probably the sticky threads in this forum, they contain samples and tools for debugging and our API documentation. These two locations contain lots of samples and information to get what you're looking to do done.

[scrubbicus]

So these APIs are in C#? If I don't know see C# will I be in trouble? I know PHP and some Javascript... but I don't see any of that in there.

[CC_TomM]

The APIs are web service APIs which can be accessed from many different languages. This web site includes examples of API usage in several languages, including PHP and the Support forums include more examples.
For PHP, you might consider starting with this example, which is focused on Authentication:
http://developer.constantcontact.com/OAuth/SamplePHP (shows OAuth Authentication)

or with this example, (which uses Digest Authentication):
http://developer.constantcontact.com/doc/samples

Or, take a look through the forums for more examples.

Thanks,