The Internet's "killer app" is not the World Wide Web or Push technologies: it is humble electronic mail. More people use email than any other Internet application. As the number of email users swells, and as email takes on an ever greater role in personal and business communication, Internet mail protocols have become not just an enabling technology for messaging, but a programming interface on top of which core applications are built. Programming Internet Email unmasks the Internet Mail System and shows how a loose federation of connected networks have combined to form the world's largest and most heavily trafficked message system. Programming Internet Email tames the Internet's most popular messaging service. For programmers building applications on top of email capabilities, and power users trying to get under the hood of their own email systems, Programming Internet Email stands out as an essential guide and reference book. In typical O'Reilly fashion, Programming Internet Email covers the topic with nineteen tightly written chapters and five useful appendixes. Following a thorough introduction to the Internet Mail System, the book is divided into five parts:

• Part I covers email formats, from basic text messages to the guts of MIME. Secure email message formats (OpenPGP and S/MIME), mailbox formats and other commonly used formats are detailed in this reference section.

• Part II describes Internet email protocols: SMTP and ESMTP, POP3 and IMAP4. Each protocol is covered in detail to expose the Internet Mail System's inner workings.

• Part III provides a solid API reference for programmers working in Perl and Java. Class references are given for commonly used Perl modules that relate to email and the Java Mail API.

• Part IV provides clear and concise examples of how to incorporate email capabilities into your applications. Examples are given in both Perl and Java.

• Part V covers the future of email on the Internet. Means and methods for controlling spam email and newly proposed Internet mail protocols are discussed.

• Appendixes to Programming Internet Email provide a host of explanatory information and useful references for the programmer and avid user alike, including a comprehensive list of Internet RFCs relating to email, MIME types and a list of email related URLs.

Programming Internet Email will answer all of your questions about mail and extend your abilities into this most popular messaging frontier.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 9 Ratings

This topic is absolute dynamite - 1999-12-03
Reviewer Rating:
Six months ago there were no books on how to program email using standard protocols. Now there are three! Kevin Johnson, John Rhoton and David Wood have all brought out excellent books on the subject. My only gripes with this book are that it has no sample code available and too many errors. If your budget is tight just get Rhoton's book and a copy of the RFCs, but if you are serious about this stuff you are going to need all three books as well as all the mail RFCs.

What a technical book should be. - 2000-09-18
Reviewer Rating:
This book is an excellent introduction to e-mail programming and protocols. It is as easy to read as any novel, explains everything neatly and concisely, and provides excellent examples.

This covers what a mail server does and how it works, but really concentrates on mail client-server interaction. It goes into SMTP, ESMTP, MIME, POP3, IMAP, and vCard format. The examples are clear and concise, and it includes actual code in Perl and Java. This provides the reader with excellent, platform independent ways to do what they need to do.

The writing style is excellent. One of the most fluid technical books I've ever read. In fact, all I needed was one Sunday to read the book from front to back.

The code provided is superb. It's easy to use, easy to understand, and aides in the learning process. For me, the code is invaluable. It has personally saved me countless hours of work.

Finally, this book doesn't delve in tremendous detail. It tells the reader how to program for e-mail, but doesn't go into the RFC's as much as many people would like it to. I think, however, that this is a real strength. Many technical books bog the reader down with irrelevant information. This books avoids this, but still gives the user information on how to retrieve any additional information if needed.

Though there are not many e-mail programming books out there, this is by far the best one. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

A good start - 1999-11-24
Reviewer Rating:
I liked this book but like the other reviewers have said it's not exactly heavy on programming. Still I thought it was a good companion to John Rothon's book Programmer's Guide to Internet Mail.

Good book for beginners... - 2002-08-18
Reviewer Rating:
Bought this book to learn more about how email works so I could fight all the spam I am receiving. I did learn a lot about headers and how email works in general, but it didn't answer all my questions. Still, if you're looking for a general overview on email, this is a good book for the money.

a good book for new mail admins - 2007-06-27
Reviewer Rating:
I wished it had gone into more depth, but it is a good book for beginning UNIX email administrators.

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Internet/Online > E-Mail
Internet/Online > SMTP