/*
 * Copyright (C) 2008, Johannes E. Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
 *
 * All rights reserved.
 *
 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or
 * without modification, are permitted provided that the following
 * conditions are met:
 *
 * - Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
 *   notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
 *
 * - Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
 *   copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
 *   disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
 *   with the distribution.
 *
 * - Neither the name of the Git Development Community nor the
 *   names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote
 *   products derived from this software without specific prior
 *   written permission.
 *
 * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND
 * CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,
 * INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
 * OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
 * ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR
 * CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
 * SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
 * NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
 * LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
 * CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT,
 * STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
 * ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF
 * ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 */

package org.spearce.jgit.diff;

/**
 * Arbitrary sequence of elements with fast comparison support.
 * <p>
 * A sequence of elements is defined to contain elements in the index range
 * <code>[0, {@link #size()})</code>, like a standard Java List implementation.
 * Unlike a List, the members of the sequence are not directly obtainable, but
 * element equality can be tested if two Sequences are the same implementation.
 * <p>
 * An implementation may chose to implement the equals semantic as necessary,
 * including fuzzy matching rules such as ignoring insignificant sub-elements,
 * e.g. ignoring whitespace differences in text.
 * <p>
 * Implementations of Sequence are primarily intended for use in content
 * difference detection algorithms, to produce an {@link EditList} of
 * {@link Edit} instances describing how two Sequence instances differ.
 */
public interface Sequence {
	/** @return total number of items in the sequence. */
	public int size();

	/**
	 * Determine if the i-th member is equal to the j-th member.
	 * <p>
	 * Implementations must ensure <code>equals(thisIdx,other,otherIdx)</code>
	 * returns the same as <code>other.equals(otherIdx,this,thisIdx)</code>.
	 *
	 * @param thisIdx
	 *            index within <code>this</code> sequence; must be in the range
	 *            <code>[ 0, this.size() )</code>.
	 * @param other
	 *            another sequence; must be the same implementation class, that
	 *            is <code>this.getClass() == other.getClass()</code>.
	 * @param otherIdx
	 *            index within <code>other</code> sequence; must be in the range
	 *            <code>[ 0, other.size() )</code>.
	 * @return true if the elements are equal; false if they are not equal.
	 */
	public boolean equals(int thisIdx, Sequence other, int otherIdx);
}