/*

 * Copyright (c) 2006, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

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

 *

 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it

 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as

 * 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.

 *

 * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA

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 */

package javax.lang.model.element;

/**

 * An immutable sequence of characters.  When created by the same

 * implementation, objects implementing this interface must obey the

 * general {@linkplain Object#equals equals contract} when compared

 * with each other.  Therefore, {@code Name} objects from the same

 * implementation are usable in collections while {@code Name}s from

 * different implementations may not work properly in collections.

 *

 * <p>An empty {@code Name} has a length of zero.

 *

 * <p>In the context of {@linkplain

 * javax.annotation.processing.ProcessingEnvironment annotation

 * processing}, the guarantees for "the same" implementation must

 * include contexts where the {@linkplain javax.annotation.processing

 * API mediated} side effects of {@linkplain

 * javax.annotation.processing.Processor processors} could be visible

 * to each other, including successive annotation processing

 * {@linkplain javax.annotation.processing.RoundEnvironment rounds}.

 *

 * @author Joseph D. Darcy

 * @author Scott Seligman

 * @author Peter von der Ahé

 * @see javax.lang.model.util.Elements#getName

 * @since 1.6

 */

public interface Name extends CharSequence {

    /**

     * Returns {@code true} if the argument represents the same

     * name as {@code this}, and {@code false} otherwise.

     *

     * <p>Note that the identity of a {@code Name} is a function both

     * of its content in terms of a sequence of characters as well as

     * the implementation which created it.

     *

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

     * @return {@code true} if the specified object represents the same

     *          name as this

     * @see Element#equals

     */

    boolean equals(Object obj);

    /**

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

     *

     * @see #equals

     */

    int hashCode();

    /**

     * Compares this name to the specified {@code CharSequence}. The result

     * is {@code true} if and only if this name represents the same sequence

     * of {@code char} values as the specified sequence.

     *

     * @return {@code true} if this name represents the same sequence

     * of {@code char} values as the specified sequence, {@code false}

     * otherwise

     *

     * @param cs The sequence to compare this name against

     * @see String#contentEquals(CharSequence)

     */

    boolean contentEquals(CharSequence cs);

}