Selection.java

/* Copyright 2009-2016 David Hadka
 *
 * This file is part of the MOEA Framework.
 *
 * The MOEA Framework is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
 * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your
 * option) any later version.
 *
 * The MOEA Framework 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 Lesser General Public
 * License for more details.
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
 * along with the MOEA Framework.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 */
package org.moeaframework.core;

/**
 * Interface for selection operators. Selection operators pick one or more
 * solutions from a population using some selection criteria.
 */
public interface Selection {

	/**
	 * Returns an array of length {@code arity} of solutions selected from the
	 * specified population.
	 * 
	 * @param arity the number of solutions selected from the specified
	 *        population
	 * @param population the population from which solutions are selected
	 * @return an array of length {@code arity} of solutions selected from the
	 *         specified population
	 */
	public Solution[] select(int arity, Population population);

}