Programming Jabber

Chapter 5. Jabber Technology Basics

One of Jabber’s strengths is its simplicity. Neither the technology employed to build Jabber networks nor the protocol used to facilitate conversations within those networks is complicated.

The aim of this chapter is to give you a good grounding in the technology and the protocol. In the preface we likened Jabber to chess: a small set of rules but boundless possibilities. And, indeed, that is the case. In this chapter we cover identification within Jabber—how entities are addressed. Related to identity is the concept of resources; we look at how that relates to addressing, as well as its relationship to presence and priority.

The Jabber protocol is in XML, which is streamed between endpoints. We look at the details of these XML streams and see how they’re constructed. Comprised of surprisingly few basic elements, the Jabber protocol is small but perfectly formed. Each element of Jabber’s protocol will be reviewed in detail.

With this chapter under your belt, your understanding of Jabber fundamentals should be complete. Everything else is strategy, planning, and endgames.