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.math.genetics;
018    
019    /**
020     * A collection of chromosomes that facilitates generational evolution.
021     * 
022     * @since 2.0
023     * @version $Revision: 800116 $ $Date: 2009-08-02 13:49:59 -0400 (Sun, 02 Aug 2009) $
024     */
025    public interface Population extends Iterable<Chromosome> {
026        /**
027         * Access the current population size.
028         * @return the current population size.
029         */
030        int getPopulationSize();
031    
032        /**
033         * Access the maximum population size.
034         * @return the maximum population size.
035         */
036        int getPopulationLimit();
037    
038        /**
039         * Start the population for the next generation.
040         * @return the beginnings of the next generation.
041         */
042        Population nextGeneration();
043    
044        /**
045         * Add the given chromosome to the population.
046         * @param chromosome the chromosome to add.
047         */
048        void addChromosome(Chromosome chromosome);
049    
050        /**
051         * Access the fittest chromosome in this population.
052         * @return the fittest chromosome.
053         */
054        Chromosome getFittestChromosome();
055    }