/*
 * Copyright 2007 the original author or authors.
 * 
 * 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 org.wamblee.system.core;

import java.util.Collection;

/**
 * Represents an interface provided by a component.
 *  
 * @author Erik Brakkee
 */
public interface ProvidedInterface {
    
	/**
	 * Symbolic name for the service as used by the subsystem.  
	 * @return Service name. 
	 */
	String getName();
	
	/**
	 * Returns the service type. 
	 * @return Service type. 
	 */
	Class[] getInterfaceTypes();
	
	/**
	 * Publish an implementation of the interface. 
	 * @param aImplementation
	 */
	void publish(Object aImplementation); 
	
	/**
	 * Gets the implementation. 
	 * @return Implementation or null if not started. 
	 */
	Object getImplementation(); 
}