This book has been structured with a deliberate ordering in mind. The main thing you will notice is that a utilities class is developed over the course of most chapters and that later chapters make use of functionality that was introduced in earlier ones. Likewise, the examples in each chapter have been introduced in a specific order and build on previous ones, so if you want to get the most out of each chapter, it is best to start at the beginning and work through to the end.

The book has 10 chapters. The first five chapters cover the basic principles of Java APIs and the technology involved to deal with the higher-level APIs and concepts covered in the last five chapters. As with the rest of the book, the first five chapters are example-oriented and cover the following topics:

Chapter 1 discusses the basic architecture of JCE and JCA, provides some historical background, and shows you how to properly set up a provider, as well as how to determine if your provider has not been properly set up.

Chapter 2 introduces the basic concepts behind symmetric, or secret, key encryption, including how it is done in Java, how keys are generated, and how to use password-based encryption. It includes discussions about what algorithms there are, what the various modes and padding mechanisms available with symmetric algorithms are for, and what they mean.

Chapter 3 introduces message digests and message authentication codes, shows why they are used, demonstrates how they are used in Java, and discusses some of the issues you may encounter when using them.

Chapter 4 introduces asymmetric, or public key, encryption and digital signatures. It covers the popular algorithms, how they are used, and which Java API is required to generate and reconstruct keys, as well as how to make use of the algorithms themselves.

Chapter 5 provides a general introduction into ASN.1—the language in which most secure protocols and messaging formats are described. It shows you how to read an ASN.1 module, interpret some of the common syntactic constructs, and then use the API provided by the Bouncy Castle ASN.1 packages to create your own Java implementations of ASN.1 structures.

After Chapter 5, the book moves on to high-level topics, building on the work covered in the first five chapters. Get it fully now.