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////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Copyright (c) 2015 Saxonica Limited.
// This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public License, v. 2.0.
// If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
// This Source Code Form is "Incompatible With Secondary Licenses", as defined by the Mozilla Public License, v. 2.0.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

package net.sf.saxon.om;

/**
 * The IdentityComparable class provides a way to compare class objects for strong equality.
 * In some cases it may test for Java-level object identity, but this is not essential. For example,
 * with date/time values it checks that the values are not only equal according to the XPath rules,
 * but also have the same timezone (or absence of a timezone).
 */
public interface IdentityComparable {

    /**
     * Determine whether two IdentityComparable objects are identical. This is a stronger
     * test than equality (even schema-equality); for example two dateTime values are not identical unless
     * they are in the same timezone.
     *
     * @param other the value to be compared with
     * @return true if the two values are indentical, false otherwise
     */
    public boolean isIdentical(IdentityComparable other);

    /**
     * Get a hashCode that offers the guarantee that if A.isIdentical(B), then A.identityHashCode() == B.identityHashCode()
     * @return a hashCode suitable for use when testing for identity.
     */

    public int identityHashCode();
}