/* * @(#)TypeVariable.java 1.3 04/01/12 * * Copyright 2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. * SUN PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL. Use is subject to license terms. */ package java.lang.reflect; /** * TypeVariable is the common superinterface for type variables of kinds. * A type variable is created the first time it is needed by a reflective * method, as specified in this package. If a type variable t is referenced * by a type (i.e, class, interface or annotation type) T, and T is declared * by the nth enclosing class of T (see JLS 8.1.2), then the creation of t * requires the resolution (see JVMS 5) of the ith enclosing class of T, * for i = 0 to n, inclusive. Creating a type variable must not cause the * creation of its bounds. Repeated creation of a type variable has no effect. * *
Multiple objects may be instantiated at run-time to * represent a given type variable. Even though a type variable is * created only once, this does not imply any requirement to cache * instances representing the type variable. However, all instances * representing a type variable must be equal() to each other. * As a consequence, users of type variables must not rely on the identity * of instances of classes implementing this interface. * *
The type parameter D represents the type of generic declaration
* that declared the underlying type variable.
*
* @since 1.5
*/
public interface TypeVariable For each upper bound B:
*
* @throws TypeNotPresentException if any of the
* bounds refers to a non-existent type declaration
* @throws MalformedParameterizedTypeException if any of the
* bounds refer to a parameterized type that cannot be instantiated
* for any reason
* @return an array of Types representing the upper
* bound(s) of this type variable
*/
Type[] getBounds();
/**
* Returns the GenericDeclaration object representing the
* generic declaration declared this type variable.
*
* @return the generic declaration declared for this type variable.
*
* @since 1.5
*/
D getGenericDeclaration();
/**
* Returns the name of this type variable, as it occurs in the source code.
*
* @return the name of this type variable, as it appears in the source code
*/
String getName();
}