DiffAlgorithm.java

/*
 * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-1.1
 *
 * ====================================================================
 * The Apache Software License, Version 1.1
 *
 * Copyright (c) 1999-2003 The Apache Software Foundation.
 * Copyright (c) 1996-2006 Juancarlo Añez
 * Copyright (c) 2010 Dmitry Naumenko (dm.naumenko@gmail.com)
 * Copyright (c) 2015-2016 Brenden Kromhout and contributors to java-diff-utils
 * All rights reserved.
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package difflib;

import java.util.List;

import difflib.myers.Equalizer;

/**
 * The general interface for computing diffs between two lists of elements of type T. 
 * 
 * @author <a href="dm.naumenko@gmail.com">Dmitry Naumenko</a>
 * @param <T> The type of the compared elements in the 'lines'.
 */
public interface DiffAlgorithm<T> {
    
    /**
     * Computes the difference between the original sequence and the revised
     * sequence and returns it as a {@link Patch} object.
     * 
     * @param original The original sequence. Must not be {@code null}.
     * @param revised The revised sequence. Must not be {@code null}.
     * @return The patch representing the diff of the given sequences. Never {@code null}.
     */
    Patch<T> diff(T[] original, T[] revised);
    
    /**
     * Computes the difference between the original sequence and the revised
     * sequence and returns it as a {@link Patch} object.
     * 
     * @param original The original sequence. Must not be {@code null}.
     * @param revised The revised sequence. Must not be {@code null}.
     * @return The patch representing the diff of the given sequences. Never {@code null}.
     */
    Patch<T> diff(List<T> original, List<T> revised);
    
    /**
     * Get equalizer use to compare data.
     * @return
     */
    Equalizer<T> getEqualizer();
}