/*
 * Copyright (C) 2011 The Guava 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 com.google.common.base;

import com.google.common.annotations.Beta;
import com.google.common.annotations.GwtCompatible;
import com.google.errorprone.annotations.CanIgnoreReturnValue;

/**
 * A time source; returns a time value representing the number of nanoseconds elapsed since some
 * fixed but arbitrary point in time. Note that most users should use {@link Stopwatch} instead of
 * interacting with this class directly.
 *
 * <p><b>Warning:</b> this interface can only be used to measure elapsed time, not wall time.
 *
 * @author Kevin Bourrillion
 * @since 10.0 (<a href="https://github.com/google/guava/wiki/Compatibility">mostly
 *     source-compatible</a> since 9.0)
 */
@Beta
@GwtCompatible
public abstract class Ticker {
  /**
   * Constructor for use by subclasses.
   */
  protected Ticker() {}

  /**
   * Returns the number of nanoseconds elapsed since this ticker's fixed point of reference.
   */
  @CanIgnoreReturnValue // TODO(kak): Consider removing this
  public abstract long read();

  /**
   * A ticker that reads the current time using {@link System#nanoTime}.
   *
   * @since 10.0
   */
  public static Ticker systemTicker() {
    return SYSTEM_TICKER;
  }

  private static final Ticker SYSTEM_TICKER =
      new Ticker() {
        @Override
        public long read() {
          return Platform.systemNanoTime();
        }
      };
}
