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 * <p>
026 * Interface for managing caches of objects fetchable by key.
027 * </p>
028 *
029 * <p>
030 * The map may chose to remove a mapping, for example to free memory, or if the
031 * data has become too old to be useful.
032 * </p>
033 *
034 * @author Matthew Pocock
035 * @since 1.1
036 */
037
038public interface CacheMap {
039  /**
040   * Associate a value with a key. The association may be broken at any time.
041   *
042   * @param key the key Object
043   * @param value the Object to associate with the key
044   */
045  public void put(Object key, Object value);
046  
047  /**
048   * Retrieve the Object associated with the key, or null if either no value has
049   * been associated or if the key's value has been cleared by the cache.
050   *
051   * @param key the key Object
052   * @return the Object currently associated with the key
053   */
054  public Object get(Object key);
055  
056  /**
057   * Explicitly remove an object.
058   *
059   * @param value  the item to remove
060   */
061  public void remove(Object value);
062}