Distribution.java

/*
 * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
 * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
 * distributed with this work for additional information
 * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
 * to you 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,
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package org.apache.tinkerpop.gremlin.algorithm.generator;

import java.util.Random;

/**
 * Interface for a distribution over discrete values.
 * <p/>
 * Used, for instance, by {@link DistributionGenerator} to define the in- and out-degree distributions and by
 * {@link CommunityGenerator} to define the community size distribution.
 *
 * @author Matthias Broecheler (me@matthiasb.com)
 */
public interface Distribution {

    /**
     * Initializes the distribution such that expectedTotal is equal to the expected sum of generated values
     * after the given number of invocatiosn.
     * <p/>
     * Since most distributions have an element of randomness, these values are the expected values.
     *
     * @return A new distribution configured to match the expected total for the number of invocations.
     */
    Distribution initialize(final int invocations, final int expectedTotal);

    /**
     * Returns the next value. If this value is randomly generated, the randomness must be drawn from
     * the provided random generator.
     * <p/>
     * DO NOT use your own internal random generator as this makes the generated values non-reproducible and leads
     * to faulty behavior.
     *
     * @param random random generator to use for randomness
     * @return next value
     */
    int nextValue(final Random random);

    /**
     * Returns the next value conditional on another given value.
     * <p/>
     * This can be used, for instance, to define conditional degree distributions where the in-degree is conditional on the out-degree.
     * <p/>
     * If this value is randomly generated, the randomness must be drawn from the provided random generator.
     * DO NOT use your own internal random generator as this makes the generated values non-reproducible and leads
     * to faulty behavior.
     *
     * @param random     random generator to use for randomness
     * @param otherValue The prior value
     * @return next value
     */
    int nextConditionalValue(final Random random, final int otherValue);

}