electronic mail address

electronic mail address
e-ddress
e-mail address

   <messaging> (Usually "e-mail address") The string used to
   specify the source or destination of an {electronic mail}
   message.  E.g. "[email protected]".

   The {RFC 822} standard is probably the most widely used on the
   {Internet}.  {X.400} was once used in Europe and Canada.
   {UUCP}-style ({bang path}) addresses or other kinds of {source
   route} became virtually extinct in the 1990s.

   In the example above, "john" is the {local part} which is the
   name of a {mailbox} on the destination computer.  If the
   sender and recipient use the same computer, or the same {LAN},
   for electronic mail then the local part is usually all that is
   required.

   If they use different computers, e.g. they work at different
   companies or use different {Internet service providers}, then
   the "host part", e.g. "sales.acme.com" must be appended after
   an "@".  This usually takes the form of a {fully qualified
   domain name} or, within a large organisation, it may be just
   the {hostname} part, e.g. "sales".  The destination computer
   named by the host part is usually a {server} of some kind
   rather than an individual's {workstation} or {PC}.  The user's
   mail is stored on the server and read later via {client} mail
   software running on the user's computer.

   Large organisations, such as universities will often set up a
   global {alias} directory which maps a simple user name such as
   "jsmith" to an address which contains more information such as
   "[email protected]".  This hides the detailed
   knowledge of where the message will be delivered from the
   sender, making it much easier to redirect mail if a user
   leaves or moves to a different department for example.

   (2006-10-18)