001    /*
002     * Copyright 2011 Christian Kumpe http://kumpe.de/christian/java
003     *
004     * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
005     * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
006     * You may obtain a copy of the License at
007     *
008     *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
009     *
010     * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
011     * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
012     * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
013     * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
014     * limitations under the License.
015     */
016    package de.kumpe.hadooptimizer;
017    
018    import java.io.Serializable;
019    import java.util.Collection;
020    
021    /**
022     * A {@link Recombiner} combines the given {@code n} parents to form {@code m}
023     * children.
024     * <p>
025     * E.g. by cutting two parents somewhere in the middle at the same point and
026     * forming two new children:
027     * <ul>
028     * <li>the first with the front end of the first parent and the back end of the
029     * other
030     * <li>the second vice versa.
031     * </ul>
032     * 
033     * @param <I>
034     *            the individuals' type
035     * 
036     * @author <a href="http://kumpe.de/christian/java">Christian Kumpe</a>
037     */
038    public interface Recombiner<I> extends Serializable {
039            /**
040             * Recombines the children from the parents in the given
041             * <code>evaluationResults</code>.
042             * 
043             * @return the <b>newly</b> created children, they may not be modified
044             *         parent-objects
045             * 
046             * @see Recombiner
047             */
048            Collection<I> recombine(Collection<EvaluationResult<I>> parents);
049    }