TypeMirror


1   /*
2    * @(#)TypeMirror.java  1.6 06/08/03
3    *
4    * Copyright 2006 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
5    * SUN PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL. Use is subject to license terms.
6    */
7   
8   package javax.lang.model.type;
9   
10  import javax.lang.model.element.*;
11  import javax.lang.model.util.Types;
12  
13  /**
14   * Represents a type in the Java programming language.
15   * Types include primitive types, declared types (class and interface types),
16   * array types, type variables, and the null type.
17   * Also represented are wildcard type arguments,
18   * the signature and return types of executables,
19   * and pseudo-types corresponding to packages and to the keyword {@code void}.
20   *
21   * <p> Types should be compared using the utility methods in {@link
22   * Types}.  There is no guarantee that any particular type will always
23   * be represented by the same object.
24   *
25   * <p> To implement operations based on the class of an {@code
26   * TypeMirror} object, either use a {@linkplain TypeVisitor visitor}
27   * or use the result of the {@link #getKind} method.  Using {@code
28   * instanceof} is <em>not</em> necessarily a reliable idiom for
29   * determining the effective class of an object in this modeling
30   * hierarchy since an implementation may choose to have a single
31   * object implement multiple {@code TypeMirror} subinterfaces.
32   *
33   * @author Joseph D. Darcy
34   * @author Scott Seligman
35   * @author Peter von der Ah&eacute;
36   * @version 1.6 06/08/03
37   * @see Element
38   * @see Types
39   * @since 1.6
40   */
41  public interface TypeMirror {
42  
43      /**
44       * Returns the {@code kind} of this type.
45       *
46       * @return the kind of this type
47       */
48      TypeKind getKind();
49  
50      /**
51       * Obeys the general contract of {@link Object#equals Object.equals}.
52       * This method does not, however, indicate whether two types represent
53       * the same type.
54       * Semantic comparisons of type equality should instead use
55       * {@link Types#isSameType(TypeMirror, TypeMirror)}.
56       * The results of {@code t1.equals(t2)} and
57       * {@code Types.isSameType(t1, t2)} may differ.
58       *
59       * @param obj  the object to be compared with this type
60       * @return {@code true} if the specified object is equal to this one
61       */
62      boolean equals(Object   obj);
63  
64      /**
65       * Obeys the general contract of {@link Object#hashCode Object.hashCode}.
66       *
67       * @see #equals
68       */
69      int hashCode();
70  
71      /**
72       * Returns an informative string representation of this type.  If
73       * possible, the string should be of a form suitable for
74       * representing this type in source code.  Any names embedded in
75       * the result are qualified if possible.
76       *
77       * @return a string representation of this type
78       */
79      String   toString();
80  
81      /**
82       * Applies a visitor to this type.
83       *
84       * @param <R> the return type of the visitor's methods
85       * @param <P> the type of the additional parameter to the visitor's methods
86       * @param v   the visitor operating on this type
87       * @param p   additional parameter to the visitor
88       * @return a visitor-specified result
89       */
90      <R, P> R accept(TypeVisitor<R, P> v, P p);
91  }
92
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