/*
* Copyright 2013 Chris Pheby
*
* Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
* you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
* You may obtain a copy of the License at
*
* http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
*
* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
* distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
* WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
* See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
* limitations under the License.
*/
package org.jadira.reflection.cloning.api;
/**
* A Cloner represents the capability for Cloning. Its the interface via which users of the library
* in general will interact with it.
*/
public interface Cloner {
/**
* Clones the supplied object
* @param obj The object
* @param <T> The class of the object to be cloned
* @return A clone of the object
*/
<T> T clone(T obj);
/**
* This method is included simply so that cold starts can be avoided. The method performs any
* initialisation needed in order to be able to subsequently process the class. If it is not
* called ahead of time the initialisation will be performed as part of the cloning operation.
* You only need to use this method in situations where a cold start is unacceptable
* @param classes Classes to perform initialisation for.
*/
public void initialiseFor(Class<?> classes);
}