Is it possible to receive payment information when testing with Paypal?

Question

PHP

The question concerns two things:
1) Is it possible to fully test the payment (identical in its capabilities to real use) and receive (enter) from Paypal into the system (our database), payment information about the transaction.
2) Is it necessary to have an SSL certificate to implement things from the 1st point?
Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

1) yes (Instant Payment Notification)
2) no