Professional XMPP Programming with JavaScript® and jQuery

Chapter 1. Getting to Know XMPP

WHAT'S IN THIS CHAPTER?

• The history of XMPP

• XMPP networks and connections

• XMPP's three building block stanzas

The eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is, at its most basic level, a protocol for moving small, structured pieces of data between two places. From this humble basis, it has been used to build large-scale instant messaging systems, Internet gaming platforms, search engines, collaboration spaces, and voice and video conferencing systems. More unique applications appear every day, further demonstrating how versatile and powerful XMPP can be.

XMPP is made of a few small building blocks, and on top of these primitives many larger constructions have been made. Within XMPP are systems for building publish-subscribe services, multi-user chat, form retrieval and processing, service discovery, real-time data transfer, privacy control, and remote procedure calls. Often, XMPP programmers create their own, unique constructions that are fitted exactly for the problem at hand.

Most social media constructs that have propelled web sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter into the forefront are also baked into XMPP. Within XMPP, you'll find rosters full of contacts that create a social graph with directed or undirected edges. Presence notifications are sent automatically when contacts come online and go offline, and private and public messages are the bread and butter application of XMPP systems. Developers will sometimes choose XMPP as the underlying ...