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package org.apache.juneau.reflect;

/**
 * An interface for creating objects from other objects such as a <c>String</c> or <c>Reader</c>.
 *
 * <ul class='seealso'>
 * 	<li class='extlink'>{@source}
 * </ul>
 *
 * @param <I> Input type.
 * @param <O> Output type.
 */
public abstract class Mutater<I,O> {

	/**
	 * Method for instantiating an object from another object.
	 *
	 * @param in The input object.
	 * @return The output object.
	 */
	public O mutate(I in) {
		return mutate(null, in);
	}

	/**
	 * Method for instantiating an object from another object.
	 *
	 * @param outer The context object.
	 * @param in The input object.
	 * @return The output object.
	 */
	public abstract O mutate(Object outer, I in);
}
