001 /*
002 * ============================================================================
003 * GNU Lesser General Public License
004 * ============================================================================
005 *
006 * Beanlet - JSE Application Container.
007 * Copyright (C) 2006 Leon van Zantvoort
008 *
009 * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
010 * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
011 * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
012 * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
013 *
014 * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
015 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
016 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
017 * Lesser General Public License for more details.
018 *
019 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
020 * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
021 * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
022 *
023 * Leon van Zantvoort
024 * 243 Acalanes Drive #11
025 * Sunnyvale, CA 94086
026 * USA
027 *
028 * zantvoort@users.sourceforge.net
029 * http://beanlet.org
030 */
031 package org.beanlet;
032
033 /**
034 * <p>
035 * Provides instances of <code>T</code>. Typically implemented by an injector. For
036 * any type <code>T</code> that can be injected, you can also inject
037 * <code>Provider<T></code>. Compared to injecting <code>T</code> directly, injecting
038 * <code>Provider<T></code> enables:
039 *
040 * <ul>
041 * <li>retrieving multiple instances.</li>
042 * <li>lazy or optional retrieval of an instance.</li>
043 * <li>breaking circular dependencies.</li>
044 * <li>abstracting scope so you can look up an instance in a smaller scope
045 * from an instance in a containing scope.</li>
046 * </ul>
047 *
048 * <p>For example:
049 *
050 * <pre>
051 * class Car {
052 * @Inject Car(Provider<Seat> seatProvider) {
053 * Seat driver = seatProvider.get();
054 * Seat passenger = seatProvider.get();
055 * ...
056 * }
057 * }</pre>
058 * <P>
059 *
060 * @author Leon van Zantvoort
061 */
062 public interface Provider<T> {
063
064
065 /**
066 * Provides a fully-constructed and injected instance of {@code T}
067 */
068 T get();
069 }