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 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.

 *

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 * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this

 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided

 * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.

 *

 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT

 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or

 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License

 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that

 * accompanied this code).

 *

 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version

 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,

 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.

 *

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package javax.lang.model.type;

import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;

import java.util.List;

import javax.lang.model.element.*;

import javax.lang.model.util.Types;

/**

 * Represents a type in the Java programming language.

 * Types include primitive types, declared types (class and interface types),

 * array types, type variables, and the null type.

 *

 * <p> Types should be compared using the utility methods in {@link

 * Types}.  There is no guarantee that any particular type will always

 * be represented by the same object.

 *

 * <p> To implement operations based on the class of an {@code

 * TypeMirror} object, either use a {@linkplain TypeVisitor visitor}

 * or use the result of the {@link #getKind} method.  Using {@code

 * instanceof} is <em>not</em> necessarily a reliable idiom for

 * determining the effective class of an object in this modeling

 * hierarchy since an implementation may choose to have a single

 * object implement multiple {@code TypeMirror} subinterfaces.

 *

 * @author Joseph D. Darcy

 * @author Scott Seligman

 * @author Peter von der Ahé

 * @see Element

 * @see Types

 * @since 1.6

 */

public interface TypeMirror extends javax.lang.model.AnnotatedConstruct {

    /**

     * Returns the {@code kind} of this type.

     *

     * @return the kind of this type

     */

    TypeKind getKind();

    /**

     * Obeys the general contract of {@link Object#equals Object.equals}.

     * This method does not, however, indicate whether two types represent

     * the same type.

     * Semantic comparisons of type equality should instead use

     * {@link Types#isSameType(TypeMirror, TypeMirror)}.

     * The results of {@code t1.equals(t2)} and

     * {@code Types.isSameType(t1, t2)} may differ.

     *

     * @param obj  the object to be compared with this type

     * @return {@code true} if the specified object is equal to this one

     */

    boolean equals(Object obj);

    /**

     * Obeys the general contract of {@link Object#hashCode Object.hashCode}.

     *

     * @see #equals

     */

    int hashCode();

    /**

     * Returns an informative string representation of this type.  If

     * possible, the string should be of a form suitable for

     * representing this type in source code.  Any names embedded in

     * the result are qualified if possible.

     *

     * @return a string representation of this type

     */

    String toString();

    /**

     * Applies a visitor to this type.

     *

     * @param <R> the return type of the visitor's methods

     * @param <P> the type of the additional parameter to the visitor's methods

     * @param v   the visitor operating on this type

     * @param p   additional parameter to the visitor

     * @return a visitor-specified result

     */

    <R, P> R accept(TypeVisitor<R, P> v, P p);

}