/*
 * 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;

/**
 * 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="http://code.google.com/p/guava-libraries/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.
	 */
	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();
		}
	};
}