Do XMPP Servers such as Openfire require implementation of their own in order to handle messages. Do I need a web language such as PHP in order to handle messages with Openfire? Because according to posts such as this How to make Chat Application in Android Using XMPP and GCM, I do not need to write PHP scripts in order to handle messages, Openfire (it being a XMPP server) will do all the heavy lifting. So when creating a messaging program is the only thing I need to worry about the client side code?
I've also run into contradictory information that I hope someone can clarify on. It was to my knowledge that one needed to use a XMPP server along side GCM; as GCM is not reliable in delivering messages by itself and requires an XMPP server to fully be reliable. Is this true, the above link suggests that it isn't, but according to this it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wXGcu9H91s
Some clarification would be great, thanks.