Internet Email Protocols: A Developer's Guide

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).