com.gemstone.gemfire.internal.lang.Orderable Maven / Gradle / Ivy
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* Copyright (c) 2010-2015 Pivotal Software, Inc. All rights reserved.
*
* Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you
* may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You
* may obtain a copy of the License at
*
* http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
*
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* distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
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* implied. See the License for the specific language governing
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package com.gemstone.gemfire.internal.lang;
/**
* The Orderable interface defines a contract for classes whose Objects can be sorted, or ordered according to the
* order property of a Comparable type.
*
* @author John Blum
* @see java.lang.Comparable
* @since 6.8
*/
public interface Orderable> {
/**
* Returns the value of the order property used in ordering instances of this implementing Object relative to other
* type compatible Object instances. The order property value can also be used in sorting operations, or in
* maintaining Orderable objects in ordered data structures like arrays or Lists, or even for defining a precedence
* not directly related order.
*
* @return a value that is Comparable to other value of the same type and defines the relative order of this Object
* instance to it's peers.
*/
public T getOrder();
}