01 /*
02 * Java Genetic Algorithm Library (jenetics-5.2.0).
03 * Copyright (c) 2007-2020 Franz Wilhelmstötter
04 *
05 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
06 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
07 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
08 *
09 * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
10 *
11 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
12 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
13 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
14 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
15 * limitations under the License.
16 *
17 * Author:
18 * Franz Wilhelmstötter (franz.wilhelmstoetter@gmail.com)
19 */
20 package io.jenetics;
21
22 import io.jenetics.util.Factory;
23 import io.jenetics.util.Verifiable;
24
25 /**
26 * Genes are the atoms of the <em>Jenetics</em> library. They contain the actual
27 * information (alleles) of the encoded solution. All implementations of the
28 * this interface are final, immutable and can be only created via static
29 * factory methods which have the name {@code of}. When extending the library
30 * with own {@code Gene} implementations, it is recommended to also implement it
31 * as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_object">value objects</a>.
32 *
33 * @implSpec
34 * <em>Jenetics</em> requires that the individuals ({@link Genotype} and
35 * {@link Phenotype}) are not changed after they have been created. Therefore,
36 * all implementations of the {@code Gene} interface must also be
37 * <em>immutable</em>.
38 *
39 * @see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_object">Value object</a>
40 * @see Chromosome
41 *
42 * @param <A> the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allele">Allele</a> type
43 * of this gene.
44 *
45 * @author <a href="mailto:franz.wilhelmstoetter@gmail.com">Franz Wilhelmstötter</a>
46 * @since 1.0
47 * @version 5.2
48 */
49 public interface Gene<A, G extends Gene<A, G>>
50 extends
51 Factory<G>,
52 Verifiable
53 {
54
55 /**
56 * Return the allele of this gene.
57 *
58 * @return the allele of this gene.
59 */
60 default A allele() {
61 return getAllele();
62 }
63
64 /**
65 * Return the allele of this gene.
66 *
67 * @return the allele of this gene.
68 * @deprecated Use {@link #allele()} instead. Implementer must still
69 * implement this method.
70 */
71 @Deprecated
72 A getAllele();
73
74 /**
75 * Return a new, random gene with the same type and with the same constraints
76 * than this gene. For all genes returned by this method holds
77 * {@code gene.getClass() == gene.newInstance().getClass()}. Implementations
78 * of this method has to use the {@link java.util.Random} object which can
79 * be fetched from the {@link io.jenetics.util.RandomRegistry}.
80 */
81 @Override
82 G newInstance();
83
84 /**
85 * Create a new gene from the given {@code value} and the gene context.
86 *
87 * @since 2.0
88 * @param value the value of the new gene.
89 * @return a new gene with the given value.
90 */
91 G newInstance(final A value);
92
93 }
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