Returning a Single Type or List of Type?

Question

So, the gist of the problem is I am programming with GameObjects in Unity. And I want a function that returns three different objects. The main problem that arises is that two of them are lists of GameObjects and the other is just a single GameObject. What is the best way to fix this issue? Here's my current code as it stands.

static List<GameObject> zombies;
static List<GameObject> humans;
static GameObject psgObject;

public const int HUMAN = 0;
public const int ZOMBIE = 1;
public const int PSG = 2;

public static object GetObject(int @object)
{
    switch(@object)
    {
        case HUMAN:
            return humans;
        case ZOMBIE:
            return zombies;
        case PSG:
            return psgObject;
        default:
            Debug.Log("GetObject() method error");
            return null;
    }
}

The awkward thing about this code is that it requires casting whenever the function is invoked. I tried using dynamic types but the compiler Unity uses doesn't support dynamic typing. What do you recommend in this situation?

Answer 1

Simply turn your single GameObject into a list then you'll have the same return type for everything, i.e.

public static List<GameObject> GetObject(int @object)
{
    switch(@object)
    {
        case HUMAN:
            return humans;
        case ZOMBIE:
            return zombies;
        case PSG:
            return new List<GameObject>() { psgObject };
        default:
            Debug.Log("GetObject() method error");
            return null;
    }
}

Alternatively change the psgObject static variable into a list and return it directly.

PS: From a design perspective it would be much better to have different methods GetHumans, GetZombies, and GetPSG since the caller must already be able to distinguish those. And then the question does not even arise.