    001    /*
    002     * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
    003     * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
    004     * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
    005     * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
    006     * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
    007     * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
    008     *
    009     *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
    010     *
    011     * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
    012     * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
    013     * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
    014     * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
    015     * limitations under the License.
    016     */
    017    package org.apache.commons.math.genetics;
    018
    019    /**
    020     * A collection of chromosomes that facilitates generational evolution.
    021     *
    022     * @since 2.0
    023     * @version $Revision: 811685 $ $Date: 2009-09-05 19:36:48 +0200 (sam. 05 sept. 2009) $
    024     */
    025    public interface Population extends Iterable<Chromosome> {
    026        /**
    027         * Access the current population size.
    028         * @return the current population size.
    029         */
    030        int getPopulationSize();
    031
    032        /**
    033         * Access the maximum population size.
    034         * @return the maximum population size.
    035         */
    036        int getPopulationLimit();
    037
    038        /**
    039         * Start the population for the next generation.
    040         * @return the beginnings of the next generation.
    041         */
    042        Population nextGeneration();
    043
    044        /**
    045         * Add the given chromosome to the population.
    046         * @param chromosome the chromosome to add.
    047         */
    048        void addChromosome(Chromosome chromosome);
    049
    050        /**
    051         * Access the fittest chromosome in this population.
    052         * @return the fittest chromosome.
    053         */
    054        Chromosome getFittestChromosome();
    055    }