001    package org.jaga.definitions;
002    
003    
004    /**
005     * Basis for all classes representing an individual, i.e. a genotype.
006     *
007     * <p><u>Project:</u> JAGA - Java API for Genetic Algorithms.</p>
008     *
009     * <p><u>Company:</u> University College London and JAGA.Org
010     *    (<a href="http://www.jaga.org" target="_blank">http://www.jaga.org</a>).
011     * </p>
012     *
013     * <p><u>Copyright:</u> (c) 2004 by G. Paperin.<br/>
014     *    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
015     *    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
016     *    the Free Software Foundation, ONLY if you include a note of the original
017     *    author(s) in any redistributed/modified copy.<br/>
018     *    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
019     *    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
020     *    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
021     *    GNU General Public License for more details.<br/>
022     *    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
023     *    along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
024     *    Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
025     *    or see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html</p>
026     *
027     * @author Greg Paperin (greg@jaga.org)
028     *
029     * @version JAGA public release 1.0 beta
030     */
031    
032    public interface Individual {
033    
034            /**
035             * Gets the individual's fitness.
036             *
037             * @return The fitness object assosiated with this individual or <code>null</code>
038             * if no fitness is associated.
039             */
040            public Fitness getFitness();
041    
042            /**
043             * Sets the fitness.
044             *
045             * @param fitness The new fitness for this individual.
046             */
047            public void setFitness(Fitness fitness);
048    
049            /**
050             * Produces a string representation of this individuial.
051             *
052             * @return A string (mostly, human readable) representing this individual.
053             */
054            public String toString();
055    }