01 /*
02 * Copyright 2003-2005 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
03 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
04 *
05 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
06 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
07 * published by the Free Software Foundation. Sun designates this
08 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
09 * by Sun in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
10 *
11 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
12 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
13 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
14 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
15 * accompanied this code).
16 *
17 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
18 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
19 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
20 *
21 * Please contact Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara,
22 * CA 95054 USA or visit www.sun.com if you need additional information or
23 * have any questions.
24 */
25
26 package java.lang.reflect;
27
28 /**
29 * TypeVariable is the common superinterface for type variables of kinds.
30 * A type variable is created the first time it is needed by a reflective
31 * method, as specified in this package. If a type variable t is referenced
32 * by a type (i.e, class, interface or annotation type) T, and T is declared
33 * by the nth enclosing class of T (see JLS 8.1.2), then the creation of t
34 * requires the resolution (see JVMS 5) of the ith enclosing class of T,
35 * for i = 0 to n, inclusive. Creating a type variable must not cause the
36 * creation of its bounds. Repeated creation of a type variable has no effect.
37 *
38 * <p>Multiple objects may be instantiated at run-time to
39 * represent a given type variable. Even though a type variable is
40 * created only once, this does not imply any requirement to cache
41 * instances representing the type variable. However, all instances
42 * representing a type variable must be equal() to each other.
43 * As a consequence, users of type variables must not rely on the identity
44 * of instances of classes implementing this interface.
45 *
46 * @param <D> the type of generic declaration that declared the
47 * underlying type variable.
48 *
49 * @since 1.5
50 */
51 public interface TypeVariable<D extends GenericDeclaration> extends
52 Type {
53 /**
54 * Returns an array of {@code Type} objects representing the
55 * upper bound(s) of this type variable. Note that if no upper bound is
56 * explicitly declared, the upper bound is {@code Object}.
57 *
58 * <p>For each upper bound B: <ul> <li>if B is a parameterized
59 * type or a type variable, it is created, (see {@link
60 * java.lang.reflect.ParameterizedType ParameterizedType} for the
61 * details of the creation process for parameterized types).
62 * <li>Otherwise, B is resolved. </ul>
63 *
64 * @throws TypeNotPresentException if any of the
65 * bounds refers to a non-existent type declaration
66 * @throws MalformedParameterizedTypeException if any of the
67 * bounds refer to a parameterized type that cannot be instantiated
68 * for any reason
69 * @return an array of {@code Type}s representing the upper
70 * bound(s) of this type variable
71 */
72 Type[] getBounds();
73
74 /**
75 * Returns the {@code GenericDeclaration} object representing the
76 * generic declaration declared this type variable.
77 *
78 * @return the generic declaration declared for this type variable.
79 *
80 * @since 1.5
81 */
82 D getGenericDeclaration();
83
84 /**
85 * Returns the name of this type variable, as it occurs in the source code.
86 *
87 * @return the name of this type variable, as it appears in the source code
88 */
89 String getName();
90 }
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