001/* -*- mode: Java; c-basic-offset: 2; indent-tabs-mode: nil; coding: utf-8-unix -*- 002 * 003 * Copyright © 2017 MicroBean. 004 * 005 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); 006 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. 007 * 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 014 * implied. See the License for the specific language governing 015 * permissions and limitations under the License. 016 */ 017package org.microbean.configuration.spi; 018 019import java.io.Serializable; // for javadoc only 020 021import org.microbean.configuration.api.TypeLiteral; 022 023/** 024 * A {@link TypeLiteral} that can convert {@link String} values into 025 * another kind of {@link Object}. 026 * 027 * @param <T> the type of {@link Object} to which {@link String} 028 * values may be converted 029 * 030 * @author <a href="https://about.me/lairdnelson" 031 * target="_parent">Laird Nelson</a> 032 * 033 * @see #convert(String) 034 */ 035public abstract class Converter<T> extends TypeLiteral<T> { 036 037 038 /* 039 * Static fields. 040 */ 041 042 043 /** 044 * The version of this class for {@linkplain Serializable 045 * serialization purposes}. 046 */ 047 private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L; 048 049 050 /* 051 * Constructors. 052 */ 053 054 055 /** 056 * Creates a new {@link Converter}. 057 */ 058 protected Converter() { 059 super(Converter.class); 060 } 061 062 063 /* 064 * Instance methods. 065 */ 066 067 068 /** 069 * Converts the supplied {@code value} into an {@link Object} of the 070 * appropriate type. 071 * 072 * <p>Implementations of this method are permitted to return {@code 073 * null}.</p> 074 * 075 * @param value the value to convert; may be {@code null} 076 * 077 * @return the converted value, which may be {@code null} 078 */ 079 public abstract T convert(final String value); 080 081}