• Advertise and discover resources (Peer, PeerGroup, Service and Pipe Advertisements)
• Communicate with each other (Pipes)
• Cooperate with each other to dynamically form peer groups

You can find the latest protocols spec at the SPEC project.

The JXTA platform is defined by the following six protocols:

• Peer Resolver Protocol (PRP): PRP allows a peer to send a search query to another peer.
• Peer Discovery Protocol (PDP): PDP allows a peer to discover other advertisements (peer, group, service & pipe).
• Endpoint Router Protocol (ERP): ERP allows a peer to query for routing information to route messages through the network.
• Pipe Binding Protocol (PBP): PBP allows a peer to bind a pipe endpoint to a physical peer.
• Rendezvous Protocol (RVP): RVP is the mechanism by which services are bootstraped within the network.
• Peer Information Protocol (PIP): PIP allows a peer to query for current status of another peer.

In order to participate the network, only ERP is required. A peer may selectively implement a subset of other protocols required to implement a specific service.

JXTA is defined to be independent of programming languages, so that it can be implemented in C/C++, Java, Perl, and numerous other languages. The protocol is specified as a set of XML messages. This means heterogeneous devices with completely different software stacks can interoperate with the JXTA protocols.

JXTA is designed to be independent of transport protocols. It can be implemented on top of TCP/IP, HTTP, Bluetooth and many other protocols. This means that a system built on top of JXTA, functions in the same fashion when the system is expanded to a new networking environment or to a new class of devices, as long as there is a correct transport protocol handler for the new networking protocol. The protocols defined in this document can be realized over the Internet, a corporate intranet, a dynamic proximity network, in a home networking environment, or even within a single computer.

The JXTA platform enables application developers to build and deploy interoperable P2P^? services and and applications across the Internet. The JXTA protocols guarantee interoperability between compliant software components (executing on potentially heterogeneous peer runtimes). Thus JXTA is agnostic to programming languages.