The tutorials that you will find on Learn Apache JMeter for QA, are all designed for you to be able to follow along and do exactly as the tutorial does.
All API calls made in the tutorials can actually be made to the http://www.scottmollon.com:41431/learnjmeter/api service. It’s a sample API I have developed to help you learn how to use JMeter without having to find another API to use, or register for. You also don’t need to translate from the tutorial steps to your target API that you need to test while you are learning. You can learn against the sample API and then take what you learned and apply it to the job before you.
Be sure to check the status of the API on the right hand side of the page if you are experiencing problems.
That said, the sample api is just that. A sample API. It’s less complex than any real API you will interact with out in the wild. It will, however, give you a solid basis from which to go out and attack any real API.
The tutorials are meant to get you automating quick, and will start are with the more basic topics and work up to the more complex topics. Each will build on the one before it allowing you to see the progression from an empty test plan to an implementation pattern that leads to a well structured and maintainable test suite.
I also hope they are fun.
Happy automating!