Internet Email Protocols: A Developer's Guide [Paperback]

Kevin Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2000

Internet Email Protocols gathers, in one comprehensive and convenient resource, the key technologies that form the underlying mechanics of Internet email. It provides developers and networking professionals with in-depth explanations of essential concepts and a framework for understanding how and why these technologies fit together to provide cohesive email services. This book shows how to troubleshoot and solve email problems, how to evaluate different implementations of the standards and protocols, and how to be better equipped when faced with the challenge of writing programs that process email. For each chapter, the author presents an overview of the material, detailed information, and any important extensions and advanced uses of the protocols being discussed. You will find in-depth descriptions of: *Message formats, covering the structure of message headers, the various fields, and the intricacies of email addresses, as well as a detailed treatment of MIME *Mail transport technology, focusing on the SMTP protocol *The most current versions of the POP and IMAP protocols *The mechanics of filtering email, with an emphasis on applying this knowledge to blocking unsolicited bulk email *The mechanics of mailing list processing, with an emphasis on applying information from earlier chapters *Security details, covering authentication, digital signatures, encryption, and anonymity In addition, the appendices provide example folder formats, a discussion on UNIX folder locking, and an overview of the languages commonly used for email development. The accompanying CD-ROM contains all the RFCs referenced in the book, as well as the source code for several popular email packages, including Sendmail and Procmail. Bringing together information that is scattered among many RFCs, software packages, and lore, this one detailed book is an important resource for anyone developing email applications. 0201432889B04062001

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Internet Email Protocols: A Developer's Guide seeks to fill the gap in published material on the nitty-gritty details of how Internet e-mail really works. With patient precision, the book succeeds in delivering a definitive examination of the various e-mail standards defined by a slew of public Request for Comment (RFC) specifications.

The text is designed for software developers who need to know everything about Internet e-mail--from protocol communications down to the definitions of individual ASCII characters. The book begins with an overview of the standards process and a thorough history of e-mail. It then presents the key protocols and specifications that collectively form what we refer to as "Internet e-mail." It carefully defines all the elements of mail messages themselves, and then presents the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP)--the lifeblood of mail movement on the Net.

Subsequent chapters lay out POP, IMAP, MIME, PGP, and other crucial standards in consistent detail. Along the way, the book continually references the RFCs. An accompanying CD-ROM contains all of the relevant RFC documents and the source code for publicly available e-mail applications. When it comes to the inner workings of e-mail, you won't find a more complete, and readable, presentation. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: Internet e-mail overview, mail message fields, SMTP, MIME, POP, IMAP, filtering, mailing list processing, security (services, frameworks, extensions, MIME security).

From the Back Cover

Internet Email Protocols gathers, in one comprehensive and convenient resource, the key technologies that form the underlying mechanics of Internet email. It provides developers and networking professionals with in-depth explanations of essential concepts and a framework for understanding how and why these technologies fit together to provide cohesive email services. This book shows how to troubleshoot and solve email problems, how to evaluate different implementations of the standards and protocols, and how to be better equipped when faced with the challenge of writing programs that process email.

For each chapter, the author presents an overview of the material, detailed information, and any important extensions and advanced uses of the protocols being discussed. You will find in-depth descriptions of:
* Message formats, covering the structure of message headers, the various fields, and the intricacies of email addresses, as well as a detailed treatment of MIME
* Mail transport technology, focusing on the SMTP protocol
* The most current versions of the POP and IMAP protocols
* The mechanics of filtering email, with an emphasis on applying this knowledge to blocking unsolicited bulk email
* The mechanics of mailing list processing, with an emphasis on applying information from earlier chapters
* Security details, covering authentication, digital signatures, encryption, and anonymity

In addition, the appendices provide example folder formats, a discussion on UNIX folder locking, and an overview of the languages commonly used for email development. The accompanying CD-ROM contains all the RFCs referenced in the book, as well as the source code for several popular email packages, including Sendmail and Procmail. Bringing together information that is scattered among many RFCs, software packages, and lore, this one detailed book is an important resource for anyone developing email applications. 0201432889B04062001

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (January 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201432889
• ISBN-13: 978-0201432886
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #729,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good reference if you program or administer email, December 11, 1999

By 

Christopher Lindsey (Champaign, IL US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Internet Email Protocols: A Developer's Guide (Paperback)

Programming and administering email applications can be a daunting task. There are so many standards and different approaches that it's difficult to understand the relationships between protocols, much less keep them straight.

This book addresses that very problem by bringing these topics together into a single volume. It covers fields as mundane as the SMTP standard and other RFCs, everyday topics like mailing lists and email filtering, and recently popularized areas like authentication mechanisms and message security.

With it's big picture view coupled with an attention to detail, this book is a must-read for anyone considering any kind of programming or administration related to email, whether they're just a novice or a grizzled programmer who's experienced it all.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a long-needed in-depth text on email protocols, November 30, 1999

By 

Mark Crispin (Bainbridge Island, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Internet Email Protocols: A Developer's Guide (Paperback)

Kevin Johnson's new book fills a longstanding gap in Internet texts -- a comprehensive pedagogical description of the various email protocols (RFC 822, MIME, SMTP, POP, IMAP) and technologies (filtering, mailing lists, security). I particularly liked the in-depth coverage of the IMAP protocol.

Abundant examples appear throughout the book, along with practical observations and detailed explanations "why".

This book is all you need if you want to understand the various email protocols, e.g. to analyze a transcript of a protocol negotiation session. If you're planning on writing software using these protocols, you'll need to read the standards documents for the precise "nuts and bolts" details; but if you read Kevin Johnson's book first, you'll have a much easier time at understanding the standards documents.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Need to know email protocols? Read this book!, November 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Internet Email Protocols: A Developer's Guide (Paperback)

This book is a very complete and comprehensive explanation, with plenty of illustrations and plenty of references, of the main email protocols in use today. Email is one of the three or four big, BIG apps on the 'net and if you want to know about email from the inside or, especially, if you need to implement some email protocol(s), either on the client or on the server, then this is the book for you. It's indispensable for an implementor: looks to me like it could be the "email bible," in the same way that Stevens is the bible for Unix programming and Comer is the bible for TCP/IP. This is the book for you if you need/want the nitty-gritty.