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milly milly
 
December 28, 2008 03:58 PM

I am looking for a good book about the technical aspects of internet email.

it should cover most topics relevant for composing a email message byte for byte (html emails, attachments, utf8).
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ilaksh ilaksh
 
 December 29, 2008 07:59 AM
I think this one might be the best bet: Essential Email Standards: RFCs and Protocols Made Practical (Hardcover)
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Email-Standards-Protocols-Practical/dp/0471345970/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230537472&sr=1-5

Or maybe better see this project from the course "Protocols and Computer Networks" at Tel Aviv University:

http://www2.rad.com/networks/2006/smtp/mime.htm

which has a detailed tutorial at the bottom of the page.

The TCP/IP Guide: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Internet Protocols Reference http://www.amazon.com/TCP-Guide-Comprehensive-Illustrated-Protocols/dp/159327047X/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230537010&sr=1-9 has a chapter on multipart MIME (used for emails).

What language are you coding it in? And why do you want to write another library for this? I'll be honest, I have done the same thing but I think the only reason was that I started doing it without before I realized that (of course) there was already a library.

Here's a tutorial that does everything from scratch for an HTML email with attachments in PHP:

http://webcheatsheet.com/php/send_email_text_html_attachment.php

Here's a page that describes all the headers and different parts of a multipart MIME message:

http://www.enewsletterpro.com/articles/multi_part_mime_messages.asp

(Here's one in an unknown language http://www.scribd.com/doc/2676136/SMTP)
Source(s):
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field...



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milly milly
 
December 30, 2008 09:12 PM
thanks alot for your answer. i am coding in php for a project and i want to understand what i do; not only use an existing library.
by the way: why did you offer this answer without getting paid for it? what's in for you? is it just fun for you?

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ilaksh ilaksh
 
December 31, 2008 01:55 AM
oh ok cool. as far as why I gave the answer without getting paid, I think that's a really interesting question.

actually most of the questions on here are really only offering small amounts of money (if any) and I also think it may be the case that a lot of the best answers involve ten, fifteen or even thirty minutes of work so that makes the question even more interesting.

I don't think that my actions generally and in this case are particularly rational. I believe that could be a fair statement to make about most people, although maybe to a slightly larger degree for myself. As far as the psychology behind it at first I was motivated to read the details of your question because it seemed like an interesting one. Actually I am motivated somewhat to answer good questions just to reciprocate the merit of the question. Then when I saw the answers that were already there, I felt like you didn't have a really great answer yet and I thought that I must be able to do better. It was like, "oh, I know I can find information on that I've done that before".. also I was determined to give the best answer.

to be honest, I am really a pretty insecure person generally which may translate into a desire to "prove" my "expertise". also, I don't really have too many friends which is another issue that might factor into it a bit.

and to be fair to the concept there is some part of me at least that likes the idea of having a place to ask questions and just wants to support the site with good answers. if the tips somehow could be larger then it might be a more rewarding (and maybe a little easier) occupation than web development. I have been slacking off on my project too much recently because of the holidays and just not feeling like doing real work so much (have been under the weather). mahalo answers is just my latest compulsion and I will probably lose interest sooner than later unfortunately.

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spoon spoon
 
December 28, 2008 04:08 PM
After 8 years of working in a bookstore I can give you 2 suggestions that will likely have everything you would be looking for.

The first item would be "Email For Dummies". While I am not a fan of the dummies series for most computer books, this is an exception since it does give you the step by step details for all the topics you can think of.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764501313?ie=UTF8&tag=assornerde-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0764501313

The next book I would suggest is "Email: The Manual" which is more of an overview of the email world and does not go into as much detail as the dummies series book.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933338156?ie=UTF8&tag=assornerde-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1933338156
Source(s):
8 years of working in a bookstore with the computer section as my area

http://www.amazon.com


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milly milly
 
December 28, 2008 04:36 PM
hi spoon

thanks for your answer. i already know the 'dummy' book the other i have seen while searching online bookstores - they are both not technical enough.

regards from zurich, switzerland

matthias

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spoon spoon
 
December 28, 2008 04:47 PM
Perhaps if there was more explanation of the information you need from the book we could give a better answer.

I'm not sure there is anything more technical out there for internet email. You may need to start getting into server books and specific language books to get more detailed.

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pvera pvera
 
December 28, 2008 05:40 PM
Are you writing code to handle email? Or you just want to know the nitty gritty?

Everything you ever wanted to know about what makes up an email message is in the two RFCs, 822 and 2822.

http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822

These define what the email is, size, fields, etc. I thought I would never have to read these since there are plenty of ready-to-use libraries to send email in every computer language known to man, but I actually have had to use these specs quite a few times.
Source(s):
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822


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milly milly
 
December 28, 2008 05:57 PM
thanks for your answer... the rfcs are part of the big picture (there are even newer ones). personally i like to have a book that fills the gap between the different technical details (e.g. rfc/protocols/encodings) and helps me to profit from the knowledge of experienced people. i just like books... more than theses text files.

regards m.

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pvera pvera
 
December 28, 2008 06:09 PM
I was hoping to find an O'Reilly book that hits just that area but all Amazon is giving me is crap on Bill O'Reilly or books on how to use Outlook. Search fail for me.

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