/*
* org.openmicroscopy.shoola.util.mem.Copiable
*
*------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Copyright (C) 2006 University of Dundee. All rights reserved.
*
*
* This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
* it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
* the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
* (at your option) any later version.
* This program 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 for more details.
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
* with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
* 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
*
*------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
package org.openmicroscopy.shoola.util.mem;
//Java imports
//Third-party libraries
//Application-internal dependencies
/**
* Requires an implementing class to provide <i>deep</i> copies of its
* instances.
* More precisely, an invocation of the {@link #copy() copy} method, such as
* <code>y = x.copy()</code>, is required to return an object <code>y</code>
* for which the following conditions hold true:
* <ul>
* <li>The state of <code>y</code> is the same as the state of
* <code>x</code>.</li>
* <li>The state of any object <code>w</code> referenced by <code>y</code> is
* the same as the corresponding object referenced by <code>x</code>,
* and so on recursively for every object referenced by <code>w</code>.</li>
* <li>Any subsequent state change in <code>y</code> or, recursively, in
* any other object referenced by <code>y</code>, is not going to affect
* <code>x</code> or recursively, any other object referenced by
* <code>x</code>.</li>
* </ul>
* Note that a deep copy would satisfy the above conditions. However, a
* non-complete deep copy might comply with the above as well — for
* example immutable objects don't need to be copied.
*
* @author Jean-Marie Burel
* <a href="mailto:j.burel@dundee.ac.uk">j.burel@dundee.ac.uk</a>
* @author <br>Andrea Falconi
* <a href="mailto:a.falconi@dundee.ac.uk">
* a.falconi@dundee.ac.uk</a>
* @version 2.2
* <small>
* (<b>Internal version:</b> $Revision$ $Date$)
* </small>
* @since OME2.2
*/
public interface Copiable
{
/**
* Makes a copy of this object.
* The implementation is required to stick to the copy semantics defined
* by this interface.
*
* @return The new object.
*/
public Object copy();
}