Sams Teach Yourself TCP/IP in 24 Hours, Fourth Edition

IRC and Instant Messaging

Realtime text messaging systems have been around for years. In fact, the concept predates the Internet as we know it today. In recent years, however, Internet-based chat has gained popularity with a new generation of users. Many users prefer messaging to the other interactive alternative of talking on the telephone. One can chat while working at a computer screen, and text is often less intrusive than sound, lending itself more readily to multitasking. Some users can even manage multiple messaging sessions simultaneously, which is difficult to do with phone calls.

Several forms of messaging exist today—some proprietary and some open. The popular form known as Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is actually described through a ...