* webservers, RPC servers and timers.
 *
 * <p>The normal lifecycle of a service is:
 *
 * <ul>
 *   <li>{@linkplain State#NEW NEW} -&gt;
 *   <li>{@linkplain State#STARTING STARTING} -&gt;
 *   <li>{@linkplain State#RUNNING RUNNING} -&gt;
 *   <li>{@linkplain State#STOPPING STOPPING} -&gt;
 *   <li>{@linkplain State#TERMINATED TERMINATED}
 * </ul>
 *

  /**
   * Determines whether two possibly-null objects are equal. Returns:
   *
   * <ul>
   *   <li>{@code true} if {@code a} and {@code b} are both null.
   *   <li>{@code true} if {@code a} and {@code b} are both non-null and they are equal according to
   *       {@link Object#equals(Object)}.
   *   <li>{@code false} in all other situations.
   * </ul>
   *

   *
   * <ol>
   *   <li>calls {@link ExecutorService#shutdown()}, disabling acceptance of new submitted tasks.
   *   <li>awaits executor service termination for half of the specified timeout.
   *   <li>if the timeout expires, it calls {@link ExecutorService#shutdownNow()}, cancelling
   *       pending tasks and interrupting running tasks.

   *
   * <ol>
   *   <li>The state of the RateLimiter (storedPermits) is a vertical line in this figure.
   *   <li>When the RateLimiter is not used, this goes right (up to maxPermits)
   *   <li>When the RateLimiter is used, this goes left (down to zero), since if we have
   *       storedPermits, we serve from those first

 *
 * <p>Some uses of this class include
 *
 * <ul>
 *   <li>As a method return type, as an alternative to returning {@code null} to indicate that no
 *       value was available
 *   <li>To distinguish between "unknown" (for example, not present in a map) and "known to have no
 *       value" (present in the map, with value {@code Optional.absent()})

 *
 * <p>Note to maintainers: This implementation relies on signed arithmetic being bit-wise equivalent
 * to unsigned arithmetic in all cases except:
 *
 * <ul>
 *   <li>comparisons (signed values can be negative)
 *   <li>division (avoided here)
 *   <li>shifting (right shift must be unsigned)
 * </ul>
 *
 * @author ******@****.*** (Kyle Maddison)
 * @author ******@****.*** (Geoff Pike)
 */

 *       defined this way, but enough to live with.
 *   <li>If you override {@link #setUp} or {@link #tearDown}, make sure to invoke {@code
 *       super.setUp} and {@code super.tearDown} within them. These methods are used to clear and
 *       check for thread assertion failures.
 *   <li>All delays and timeouts must use one of the constants {@code SHORT_DELAY_MS}, {@code

   * instead.
   *
   * <p>The specifier must be in one of these formats:
   *
   * <ul>
   *   <li>A domain name, like {@code google.com}
   *   <li>A IPv4 address string, like {@code 127.0.0.1}
   *   <li>An IPv6 address string with or without brackets, like {@code [2001:db8::1]} or {@code
   *       2001:db8::1}
   * </ul>
   *

   *
   * <p>returns a list containing six lists in the following order:
   *
   * <ul>
   *   <li>{@code ImmutableList.of(1, "A")}
   *   <li>{@code ImmutableList.of(1, "B")}
   *   <li>{@code ImmutableList.of(1, "C")}
   *   <li>{@code ImmutableList.of(2, "A")}
   *   <li>{@code ImmutableList.of(2, "B")}
   *   <li>{@code ImmutableList.of(2, "C")}
   * </ul>
   *

 * multiset. Undefined behavior and bugs will result.
 *
 * <h3>Implementations</h3>
 *
 * <ul>
 *   <li>{@link ImmutableMultiset}
 *   <li>{@link ImmutableSortedMultiset}
 *   <li>{@link HashMultiset}
 *   <li>{@link LinkedHashMultiset}
 *   <li>{@link TreeMultiset}
 *   <li>{@link EnumMultiset}
 *   <li>{@link ConcurrentHashMultiset}
 * </ul>
 *