    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.math3.genetics;
    018
    019    import org.apache.commons.math3.exception.NumberIsTooLargeException;
    020
    021
    022    /**
    023     * A collection of chromosomes that facilitates generational evolution.
    024     *
    025     * @since 2.0
    026     * @version $Id: Population.java 1416643 2012-12-03 19:37:14Z tn $
    027     */
    028    public interface Population extends Iterable<Chromosome> {
    029        /**
    030         * Access the current population size.
    031         * @return the current population size.
    032         */
    033        int getPopulationSize();
    034
    035        /**
    036         * Access the maximum population size.
    037         * @return the maximum population size.
    038         */
    039        int getPopulationLimit();
    040
    041        /**
    042         * Start the population for the next generation.
    043         * @return the beginnings of the next generation.
    044         */
    045        Population nextGeneration();
    046
    047        /**
    048         * Add the given chromosome to the population.
    049         * @param chromosome the chromosome to add.
    050         * @throws NumberIsTooLargeException if the population would exceed the population limit when adding
    051         *   this chromosome
    052         */
    053        void addChromosome(Chromosome chromosome) throws NumberIsTooLargeException;
    054
    055        /**
    056         * Access the fittest chromosome in this population.
    057         * @return the fittest chromosome.
    058         */
    059        Chromosome getFittestChromosome();
    060    }