Book Image

Practical XMPP

By : Lloyd Watkin, Steven Watkin, Koelle
Book Image

Practical XMPP

By: Lloyd Watkin, Steven Watkin, Koelle

Overview of this book

XMPP (eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) is a messaging protocol that enables communication between two or more devices via the Internet. With this book, developers will learn about the fundamentals of XMPP, be able to work with the core functionality both server-side and in the browser, as well as starting to explore several of the protocol extensions. You will not only have a solid grasp of XMPP and how it works, but will also be able to use the protocol to build real-world applications that utilize the power of XMPP. By the end of this book, you will know more about networking applications in general, and have a good understanding of how to extend XMPP, as well as using it in sample applications.
Table of Contents (11 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
1. An Introduction to XMPP and Installing Our First Server

Basic building blocks of XMPP communication

This may come as a shock, but communications in XMPP come via just three (that's right three) top-level elements. These pieces of communication are called stanzas, and by sending sets of these with various contents, we can achieve everything we need to with XMPP. These top-level elements are:

  • <presence/>: For sending the connection status of a client (online, offline, away, and so on)
  • <message/>: Used to send messages or alerts
  • <iq/>: The Information Query, or IQ, is for handling, setting and retrieval of information

In the following section, we'll talk about each of these in turn so that you can gain an overall understanding of what they are designed for and how they are used. Later in the chapter, we'll delve into XMPP communications just a little deeper, but for now let's cover these three important areas.