David Wood has compiled his knowledge of a broad array of topics to create this fine guide for both developers and the technologically curious. He explains what makes Internet e-mail work and then dives into the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME), Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME), Open Pretty Good Protocol (OpenPGP), and Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) standards. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), and vCard--the e-mail version of business cards--are also covered.
For each topic, the book simply explains its purpose and then presents its command usage with code examples. This discussion will be understood best by programmers, but the opening introductions easily reach those with more general expertise.
Beyond the basics, Wood presents the Java Mail API, antispamming techniques, attachment scrubbing, and Java-based IMAP mailbox monitoring.
While this book is a simple collection of separate technology discussions, it offers universal information on e-mail. Illustrative and filled with facts, this book will help you design your own e-mail client--or simply understand how one works. --Stephen W. Plain