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A library of composable components enabling simpler Computational Intelligence

There is a newer version: 0.8

/**           __  __
 *    _____ _/ /_/ /_    Computational Intelligence Library (CIlib)
 *   / ___/ / / / __ \   (c) CIRG @ UP
 *  / /__/ / / / /_/ /   http://cilib.net
 *  \___/_/_/_/_.___/
 */
package net.sourceforge.cilib.problem;

import net.sourceforge.cilib.problem.solution.Fitness;
import net.sourceforge.cilib.type.DomainRegistry;
import net.sourceforge.cilib.type.types.Type;
import net.sourceforge.cilib.util.Cloneable;

/**
 * 
 * Optimisation problems are characterized by a domain that specifies the search space and
 * a fitness given a potential solution. This interface ensures that an
 * {@linkplain net.sourceforge.cilib.algorithm.OptimisationAlgorithm optimisation algorithm} has
 * all the information it needs to find a solution to a given optimisation problem. In addition, it is the
 * responsibility of an optimisation problem to keep track of the number of times the fitness has
 * been evaluated.
 * 
 * All optimisation problems must implement this interface.
 *
 */
public interface Problem extends Cloneable {

    /**
     * {@inheritDoc}
     */
    @Override
    Problem getClone();

    /**
     * Returns the fitness of a potential solution to this problem. The solution object is described
     * by the domain of this problem, see {@link #getDomain()}. An instance of
     * {@link net.sourceforge.cilib.problem.InferiorFitness} should be returned if the solution
     * falls outside the search space of this problem.
     *
     * @param solution The potential solution found by the optimisation algorithm.
     * @return The fitness of the solution.
     */
    Fitness getFitness(Type solution);

    /**
     * Returns the number of times the underlying fitness function has been evaluated.
     *
     * @return The number fitness evaluations.
     */
    int getFitnessEvaluations();

    /**
     * Returns the domain component that describes the search space for this problem.
     *
     * @return A {@link net.sourceforge.cilib.type.DomainRegistry} object representing the search space.
     */
    DomainRegistry getDomain();

    void setDomain(String domain);

}