/*

 * Copyright 2005-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  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.  Sun designates this

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

 * by Sun 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 Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara,

 * CA 95054 USA or visit www.sun.com if you need additional information or

 * have any questions.

 */

package javax.lang.model.element;

import java.util.List;

import javax.lang.model.type.*;

import javax.lang.model.util.*;

/**

 * Represents a class or interface program element.  Provides access

 * to information about the type and its members.  Note that an enum

 * type is a kind of class and an annotation type is a kind of

 * interface.

 *

 * <p> <a name="ELEM_VS_TYPE"></a>

 * While a {@code TypeElement} represents a class or interface

 * <i>element</i>, a {@link DeclaredType} represents a class

 * or interface <i>type</i>, the latter being a use

 * (or <i>invocation</i>) of the former.

 * The distinction is most apparent with generic types,

 * for which a single element can define a whole

 * family of types.  For example, the element

 * {@code java.util.Set} corresponds to the parameterized types

 * {@code java.util.Set<String>} and {@code java.util.Set<Number>}

 * (and many others), and to the raw type {@code java.util.Set}.

 *

 * <p> Each method of this interface that returns a list of elements

 * will return them in the order that is natural for the underlying

 * source of program information.  For example, if the underlying

 * source of information is Java source code, then the elements will be

 * returned in source code order.

 *

 * @author Joseph D. Darcy

 * @author Scott Seligman

 * @author Peter von der Ahé

 * @see DeclaredType

 * @since 1.6

 */

public interface TypeElement extends Element, Parameterizable, QualifiedNameable {

    /**

     * Returns the <i>nesting kind</i> of this type element.

     *

     * @return the nesting kind of this type element

     */

    NestingKind getNestingKind();

    /**

     * Returns the fully qualified name of this type element.

     * More precisely, it returns the <i>canonical</i> name.

     * For local and anonymous classes, which do not have canonical names,

     * an empty name is returned.

     *

     * <p>The name of a generic type does not include any reference

     * to its formal type parameters.

     * For example, the fully qualified name of the interface

     * {@code java.util.Set<E>} is "{@code java.util.Set}".

     * Nested types use "{@code .}" as a separator, as in

     * "{@code java.util.Map.Entry}".

     *

     * @return the fully qualified name of this class or interface, or

     * an empty name if none

     *

     * @see Elements#getBinaryName

     * @jls3 6.7 Fully Qualified Names and Canonical Names

     */

    Name getQualifiedName();

    /**

     * Returns the direct superclass of this type element.

     * If this type element represents an interface or the class

     * {@code java.lang.Object}, then a {@link NoType}

     * with kind {@link TypeKind#NONE NONE} is returned.

     *

     * @return the direct superclass, or a {@code NoType} if there is none

     */

    TypeMirror getSuperclass();

    /**

     * Returns the interface types directly implemented by this class

     * or extended by this interface.

     *

     * @return the interface types directly implemented by this class

     * or extended by this interface, or an empty list if there are none

     */

    List<? extends TypeMirror> getInterfaces();

    /**

     * Returns the formal type parameters of this type element

     * in declaration order.

     *

     * @return the formal type parameters, or an empty list

     * if there are none

     */

    List<? extends TypeParameterElement> getTypeParameters();

}