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

Interacting with XMPP in the browser

When XMPP was first developed, the standard way to use software was to install an application on your home computer and connect to the Internet over a 56k modem. Browsers were devices for visiting simple text and image documents linked together by hyperlinks. Some people still refer to it as an information superhighway.

For this reason, while XMPP has been used in web applications in various ways, it has somewhat been overlooked. Web developers in general have had bad experiences with XML or see it as unnecessarily verbose (especially next to JSON).

With the rise of the real time web, the proliferation of a new wave of chat, the Internet of Things (IoT), and WebRTC applications (all discussed in Chapter 10, Real-world deployment and XMPP Extensions), we see XMPP becoming increasingly more relevant and popular. As a proven system, it has solved the problems these applications face in terms of scalability and security it has well as also provided a standards...