001/*
002 * Copyright 2023 the original author or authors.
003 * <p>
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 * <p>
008 * https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
009 * <p>
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 */
016package de.cuioss.test.generator;
017
018/**
019 * A generator creates instances of type T. The method {@link #getType()}
020 * provides a default implementation using {@link #next()} and reading the
021 * concrete {@link Class} of the returned element.
022 *
023 * @author Oliver Wolff
024 * @param <T> identifying the type of objects to be generated
025 */
026public interface TypedGenerator<T> {
027
028    /**
029     * @return class information; which type this generator is responsible for.
030     */
031    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked") // the implicit providing of the type is the actual idea
032    default Class<T> getType() {
033        return (Class<T>) next().getClass();
034    }
035
036    /**
037     * Generates the next instance.
038     *
039     * @return a newly created instance
040     */
041    T next();
042}