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package eu.mais_h.mathsync.serialize;

/**
 * Serializes objects to arrays of bytes.
 *
 * @param  the type of input objects.
 */
public interface Serializer {

  /**
   * Serializes an object to an array of byte.
   *
   * Any instance of T must be accepted and have a non null return value:
   * for any o, o instanceof T implies serialize(o) != null.
   *
   * The output must be consistent, an identical output should be returned if called twice on the equal
   * objects: for any o1 and o2, o1.equals(o2) implies
   * Arrays.equals(serialize(o1), serialize(o2)).
   *
   * @param item the object to serialize.
   * @return the array of bytes representing the input object on the wire.
   */
  byte[] serialize(T item);
}