Rating: 
Summary: Should have been titled Explaining Internet EMail
Review: The previous reviewer hit it right on the head. This book is very light on programming. Don't expect to build an email client by copying and modifying examples out of the book. But it does a good job on explaining the various mail protocols. I appreciated it on that level because books on internet protocols are rare.
Rating: 
Summary: What a technical book should be.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: What a technical book should be.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: great book!
Review: This is a great book, and I think it is TOTALLY geared towards programming a working email app. It doesn't just rehash the protocols, it discusses them a bit and gives them some context. No, you can't find code in this book that you can copy and paste and have an email app running immediately, why would you WANT that? That's what code repositories are for, this book is for someone who needs to make a custom application of some sort. Yes you need to know some programming to use this book, that's why it's not called "how to program and also how to program internet email". This book gives you the CONCEPTS (although they go into pretty good depth) of what your email program will need to do, and yeah, ugh I just can't believe how badly those last two emails missed the point. This book is way way more than a rehashing of protocols, it's an essential reference for any serious programmer who needs to do any work on an internet email application. Awesome awesome book, and much needed.
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