* @return the request trace, or {@code null} if no trace information is available
     */
    @Nullable
    RequestTrace getTrace();

    /**
     * Returns a hashcode value for this request, based on all significant fields.
     * Implementations must ensure that if two requests are equal according to
     * {@link #equals(Object)}, they have the same hashcode.
     *
     * @return a hash code value for this request
     */

        byte[] bufferData = buf.getBuffer();
        assertEquals((byte) 0xCD, bufferData[startIndex + alignmentBytes], "Least significant byte should be first");
        assertEquals((byte) 0x00, bufferData[startIndex + alignmentBytes + 1], "Most significant byte should be second");
    }

    /**
     * When given a buffer with sufficient length, decode performs
     * the inverse of encode.
     */

and
https://github.com/google/guava/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md
before sending a pull request.

We generally welcome PRs for fixing trivial bugs or typos, but please refrain
from sending a PR with significant changes unless explicitly requested.

   *
   * <p>For the case of {@link RoundingMode#HALF_EVEN}, this implementation uses the IEEE 754
   * default rounding mode: if the two nearest representable values are equally near, the one with
   * the least significant bit zero is chosen. (In such cases, both of the nearest representable
   * values are even integers; this method returns the one that is a multiple of a greater power of
   * two.)
   *

      value: >
        Did you *actually* encounter the need for this enhancement in a real-world scenario, or does
        it just seem like a sensible behavior for the feature to have?


        Before we make significant changes to existing features in Guava, we really want to be sure
        that it's for a use case that actually comes up in the real world. We want to hear the

   *
   * <p>For the case of {@link RoundingMode#HALF_EVEN}, this implementation uses the IEEE 754
   * default rounding mode: if the two nearest representable values are equally near, the one with
   * the least significant bit zero is chosen. (In such cases, both of the nearest representable
   * values are even integers; this method returns the one that is a multiple of a greater power of
   * two.)
   *

-   [StackOverflow: Ask "how-to" and "why-didn't-it-work" questions](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/ask?tags=guava+java)
-   [guava-announce: Announcements of releases and upcoming significant changes](https://groups.google.com/group/guava-announce)
-   [guava-discuss: For open-ended questions and discussion](https://groups.google.com/group/guava-discuss)

## IMPORTANT WARNINGS

  - Fixing a bug without changing a public API.
  - Fixing or improving documentation.
  - Improvements to Maven configuration.

Guidelines for any code contributions:

  1. Any significant changes should be accompanied by tests. The project already
     has good test coverage, so look at some existing tests if you're unsure
     how to go about it.

Pre-compressed input typically compresses in excess of 2GiB/s per core,
so performance impact should be minimal even if precompressed data is re-compressed.
Decompressing incompressible data has no significant performance impact.

Below is a list of common files and content-types which are typically not suitable for compression.

- Extensions

 | `gz`  | (GZIP)      |
 | `bz2` | (BZIP2)     |

        There is always *some* alternative to adding a new feature to Guava, even if it's just
        forking Guava yourself.


        We want to see that new features have some significant advantage over the alternatives.
        These advantages can take
        [many forms](https://github.com/google/guava/wiki/PhilosophyExplained#utility), but taking