Question

I have designed a chat application where different users can create the account, but I do not know how to send a confirmation email to the users. Since I collect their e-mail address in the registration form, how can I send mail to those addresses in Java?

Answer 1

First of all, you need a SMTP server. It’s required to be able to send emails. You can make use of the SMTP server associated with your own existing email account, such as the one from your ISP or public mailboxes like Gmail, Yahoo, etc. You can find SMTP connection details at their documentation. You usually just need to know the hostname and the port number. The login details are just the same as from your email account.

You’re however restricted to using your own address in the From field of the email and usually also in the amount of emails you’re allowed to send at certain intervals. If you’d like to get around this, then you need to install your own SMTP server, for example Apache James, which is Java based, or Microsoft Exchange and so on.

Then, to send an email using Java code, you would need the JavaMail API or the more convenienced Apache Commons Email.