com.google.common.collect
Interface Constraint<E>


@Beta
@GwtCompatible
public interface Constraint<E>

A constraint that an element must satisfy in order to be added to a collection. For example, Constraints.notNull(), which prevents a collection from including any null elements, could be implemented like this:

   public Object checkElement(Object element) {
     if (element == null) {
       throw new NullPointerException();
     }
     return element;
   }
In order to be effective, constraints should be deterministic; that is, they should not depend on state that can change (such as external state, random variables, and time) and should only depend on the value of the passed-in element. A non-deterministic constraint cannot reliably enforce that all the collection's elements meet the constraint, since the constraint is only enforced when elements are added.

Since:
3
Author:
Mike Bostock
See Also:
Constraints, MapConstraint

Method Summary
 E checkElement(E element)
          Throws a suitable RuntimeException if the specified element is illegal.
 String toString()
          Returns a brief human readable description of this constraint, such as "Not null" or "Positive number".
 

Method Detail

checkElement

E checkElement(E element)
Throws a suitable RuntimeException if the specified element is illegal. Typically this is either a NullPointerException, an IllegalArgumentException, or a ClassCastException, though an application-specific exception class may be used if appropriate.

Parameters:
element - the element to check
Returns:
the provided element

toString

String toString()
Returns a brief human readable description of this constraint, such as "Not null" or "Positive number".

Overrides:
toString in class Object
Returns:
a string representation of the object.