/*
 * Copyright (c) 2009, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
 *
 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
 * published by the Free Software Foundation.
 *
 * This code 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 General Public License
 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
 * accompanied this code).
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 *
 * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
 * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
 * questions.
 */
package com.sun.cri.ri;

/**
 * Represents resolved and unresolved methods. Methods, like fields and types, are resolved through
 * {@link RiConstantPool constant pools}, and their actual implementation is provided by the {@link RiRuntime runtime}
 * to the compiler.
 */
public interface RiMethod {

    /**
     * Gets the name of the method as a string.
     * @return the name of the method
     */
    String name();

    /**
     * Gets the type in which this method is declared.
     * @return the type in which this method is declared
     */
    RiType holder();

    /**
     * Gets the signature of the method.
     * @return the signature of the method
     */
    RiSignature signature();

    /**
     * Indicates whether a direct call to this method can be linked without
     * any concerns of the call having to be relinked (e.g. when the
     * compiled code for this method is relocated or invalidated).
     * This determines whether a compiler can generate code for a direct call
     * without having to worry about thread-safe code patching issues.
     * <p>
     * Note that the result will always be {@code false} for methods that don't yet
     * have compiled code.
     */
    boolean canBePermanentlyLinked();
}