/*

* Copyright (c) 2003, 2005, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

* ORACLE PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL. Use is subject to license terms.

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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.

*

* <p>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.

*

* @param <D> the type of generic declaration that declared the

* underlying type variable.

*

* @since 1.5

*/

public interface TypeVariable<D extends GenericDeclaration> extends Type {

/**

* Returns an array of {@code Type} objects representing the

* upper bound(s) of this type variable. Note that if no upper bound is

* explicitly declared, the upper bound is {@code Object}.

*

* <p>For each upper bound B: <ul> <li>if B is a parameterized

* type or a type variable, it is created, (see {@link

* java.lang.reflect.ParameterizedType ParameterizedType} for the

* details of the creation process for parameterized types).

* <li>Otherwise, B is resolved. </ul>

*

* @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 {@code Type}s representing the upper

* bound(s) of this type variable

*/

Type[] getBounds();

/**

* Returns the {@code 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();

}