001/*
002 *                    BioJava development code
003 *
004 * This code may be freely distributed and modified under the
005 * terms of the GNU Lesser General Public Licence.  This should
006 * be distributed with the code.  If you do not have a copy,
007 * see:
008 *
009 *      http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html
010 *
011 * Copyright for this code is held jointly by the individual
012 * authors.  These should be listed in @author doc comments.
013 *
014 * For more information on the BioJava project and its aims,
015 * or to join the biojava-l mailing list, visit the home page
016 * at:
017 *
018 *      http://www.biojava.org/
019 *
020 */
021
022package org.biojava.utils.cache;
023
024/**
025 * Interface for managing caches of objects.  Caches serve
026 * as factories for CacheReference objects.  These references
027 * can be cleared at any time after creation, using heuristics
028 * determined by the Cache implementation.
029 *
030 * @author Thomas Down
031 * @since 1.1
032 */
033
034public interface Cache {
035    /**
036     * Construct a temporary reference to an object.  The reference
037     * persists until it becomes dereferenced itself, it is explicitly
038     * cleared by the user, or the cache determines that it is a
039     * candidate for disposal.
040     */
041
042    public CacheReference makeReference(Object o);
043}