001/**
002 * Copyright (c) 2011, The University of Southampton and the individual contributors.
003 * All rights reserved.
004 *
005 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
006 * are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
007 *
008 *   *  Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
009 *      this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
010 *
011 *   *  Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
012 *      this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
013 *      and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
014 *
015 *   *  Neither the name of the University of Southampton nor the names of its
016 *      contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this
017 *      software without specific prior written permission.
018 *
019 * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
020 * ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
021 * WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
022 * DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR
023 * ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
024 * (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
025 * LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
026 * ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
027 * (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
028 * SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
029 */
030package org.openimaj.data.dataset;
031
032import java.util.List;
033
034/**
035 * A {@link ListDataset} is a {@link Dataset} presented as an ordered list of
036 * instances. For convenience it extends the {@link List} interface; note
037 * however, that many dataset implementations will be read-only.
038 * 
039 * @author Jonathon Hare (jsh2@ecs.soton.ac.uk)
040 * 
041 * @param <INSTANCE>
042 *            the type of instances in the dataset
043 */
044public interface ListDataset<INSTANCE> extends Dataset<INSTANCE>, List<INSTANCE> {
045
046        /**
047         * Returns the instance at the specified position in this dataset.
048         * 
049         * @param index
050         *            index of the instance to return
051         * @return the element at the specified position in this list
052         * @throws IndexOutOfBoundsException
053         *             if the index is out of range (
054         *             <tt>index &lt; 0 || index &gt;= size()</tt>)
055         */
056        public INSTANCE getInstance(int index);
057}