Programming Jabber: Extending XML Messaging (O'Reilly XML)

The book covers the installation of the server and the configuration (including a Jabber cluster), and then starts covering the XML protocol that is used to send information between servers and clients.

Several useful real-world examples are given, including a CVS-notification system, keyword assistant, headline viewer, etc. There is even a project to hook Jabber up to a coffee pot using Lego Mindstorm, with the point being to show how flexible Jabber can be. Examples are in PERL, Python and Java.

The book makes it quite clear that there is far more to Jabber than just instant-messaging.


This book covers all layers of Jabber very well   March 26, 2002
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

When I first picked up this book, I expeted to understand the Jabber protocol in sufficient depth to implement my own IM client. Instead, the approach this book takes is that Jabber isn't just an XML-based protocol strictly for IM, rather it is a general purpose event notification protocol that has some very nice message routing and user management features built into it. While I was reading about the messages that Jabber has defined as part of the protocol, I could easily see other applications/devices generating Jabber messages to notify subscribers (either other systems, or people) of events.

This book covers everything relevant to Jabber technology, from lowest level innerworkings and extensibility examples for developers to configuration and deployment for admins. Most of the book is spent looking directly at the Jabber XML protocol, instead of a specific API implementation. This way, the book covers the technology and doesn't get lost in how one particular API models the protocol.


DJ delivers an excellent primer into the world of Jabber   February 6, 2002
Julian Missig (Boston, MA USA)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

As a disclaimer, I have been involved with Jabber for 3 years, am the author of one of the more popular Jabber clients for linux, and am a friend of DJ's.

Jabber finally has its Bible. DJ has written an excellent introduction into the world of Jabber, covering everything a programmer would need to become familiar with the protocol for this Open instant messaging system. He covers everything from the basics of what exactly Jabber is, how to deal with presence, messages, and basic extensions, all the way up to complicated and unfinished extensions such as XML-RPC. Anyone programming Jabber needs this as a reference, and anyone looking to get started in the Jabber world need not look further than this book.