001/*
002 * Copyright 2002-2012 the original author or authors.
003 *
004 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
005 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
006 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
007 *
008 *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
009 *
010 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
011 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
012 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
013 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
014 * limitations under the License.
015 */
016
017package org.springframework.beans.factory.config;
018
019import org.springframework.beans.BeanMetadataElement;
020
021/**
022 * Interface that exposes a reference to a bean name in an abstract fashion.
023 * This interface does not necessarily imply a reference to an actual bean
024 * instance; it just expresses a logical reference to the name of a bean.
025 *
026 * <p>Serves as common interface implemented by any kind of bean reference
027 * holder, such as {@link RuntimeBeanReference RuntimeBeanReference} and
028 * {@link RuntimeBeanNameReference RuntimeBeanNameReference}.
029 *
030 * @author Juergen Hoeller
031 * @since 2.0
032 */
033public interface BeanReference extends BeanMetadataElement {
034
035        /**
036         * Return the target bean name that this reference points to (never {@code null}).
037         */
038        String getBeanName();
039
040}