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#region Copyright notice and license
// Protocol Buffers - Google's data interchange format
// Copyright 2015 Google Inc. All rights reserved.
// https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/
//
// Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
// modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
// met:
//
// * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
// notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
// * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
// copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer
// in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
// distribution.
// * Neither the name of Google Inc. nor the names of its
// contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
// this software without specific prior written permission.
//
// THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
// "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
// LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
// A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
// OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
// SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
// LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
// DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
// THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
// (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
// OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
#endregion
namespace Google.Protobuf
{
/// <summary>
/// Generic interface for a deeply cloneable type.
/// </summary>
/// <remarks>
/// <para>
/// All generated messages implement this interface, but so do some non-message types.
/// Additionally, due to the type constraint on <c>T</c> in <see cref="IMessage{T}"/>,
/// it is simpler to keep this as a separate interface.
/// </para>
/// </remarks>
/// <typeparam name="T">The type itself, returned by the <see cref="Clone"/> method.</typeparam>
public interface IDeepCloneable<T>
{
/// <summary>
/// Creates a deep clone of this object.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>A deep clone of this object.</returns>
T Clone();
}
}