/*
 * Copyright 2008-present MongoDB, Inc.
 *
 * 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 com.mongodb.internal.binding;

An interface for reference-counted objects.
Since:
3.0/**
 * An interface for reference-counted objects.
 *
 * @since 3.0
 */
public interface ReferenceCounted {
    
Gets the current reference count, which starts at 0.
Returns:
the current count, which must be greater than or equal to 0/**
     * Gets the current reference count, which starts at 0.
     *
     * @return the current count, which must be greater than or equal to 0
     */
    int getCount();

    
Retain an additional reference to this object.  All retained references must be released, or there will be a leak.
Returns:
this/**
     * Retain an additional reference to this object.  All retained references must be released, or there will be a leak.
     *
     * @return this
     */
    ReferenceCounted retain();

    
Release a reference to this object.
Throws:
IllegalStateException – if the reference count is already 0/**
     * Release a reference to this object.
     * @throws java.lang.IllegalStateException if the reference count is already 0
     */
    void release();
}