/*
 * Copyright 2017-present Open Networking Foundation
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */
package io.atomix.utils;

/**
 * Object builder.
 * <p>
 * This is a base interface for building objects in Catalyst.
 *
 * @param <T> type to build
 */
public interface Builder<T> {

  /**
   * Builds the object.
   * <p>
   * The returned object may be a new instance of the built class or a recycled instance, depending on the semantics
   * of the builder implementation. Users should never assume that a builder allocates a new instance.
   *
   * @return The built object.
   */
  T build();

}