The java mail api is an optional package (standard extension) for reading, composing, and sending electronic messages. You use the package to create mail user agent (mua) type programs, similar to eudora, pine, and microsoft outlook. The api's main purpose is not for transporting, delivering, and forwarding messages; this is the purview of applications such as sendmail and other mail transfer agent (mta) type programs. Mua-type programs let users read and write e-mail, whereas muas rely on mtas to handle the actual delivery. The javamail api is designed to provide protocol-independent access for sending and receiving messages by dividing the api into two parts: • the first part of the api is the focus of this course -- basically, how to send and receive messages independent of the provider/protocol. • the second part speaks the protocol-specific languages, like smtp, pop, imap, and nntp. With the javamail api, in order to communicate with a server, you need a provider for