/**
 * Copyright (c) 2011, The University of Southampton and the individual contributors.
 * All rights reserved.
 *
 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
 * are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
 *
 *   *  Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
 *      this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
 *
 *   *  Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
 *      this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
 *      and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
 *
 *   *  Neither the name of the University of Southampton nor the names of its
 *      contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this
 *      software without specific prior written permission.
 *
 * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
 * ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
 * WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
 * DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR
 * ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
 * (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
 * LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
 * ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
 * (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
 * SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 */
package org.openimaj.feature.local;

import java.util.List;

import org.openimaj.feature.FeatureExtractor;

/**
 * Interface for objects capable of extracting local features from a given
 * object. It is expected that implementors of this interface are threadsafe and
 * can allow multiple calls to {@link #extractFeature(Object)} at the same time
 * (or they at least synchronise the method).
 * 
 * @author Jonathon Hare (jsh2@ecs.soton.ac.uk)
 * 
 * @param <FEATURE>
 *            Type of local feature
 * @param <OBJECT>
 *            Type of object
 */
public interface LocalFeatureExtractor<FEATURE extends LocalFeature<?, ?>, OBJECT>
                extends
                FeatureExtractor<List<? extends FEATURE>, OBJECT>
{
        /**
         * Get the actual type of {@link LocalFeature}s extracted.
         * 
         * @return the actual type of LocalFeature produced.
         */
        public abstract Class<? extends LocalFeature<?, ?>> getFeatureClass();
}