What should I do when a method fail to return a GameObject?

Questions & Answers
1

I am creating a static method to get a reference to a certain type of Gameobject that can be accessed from various scripts.

public static Vehicle GetVehicleInScene() 
{
    Vehicle v = GameObject.FindObjectOfType<Vehicle>();
    return v;
}

Now, if the object is already destroyed or no longer exist in the scene, how should I do a ‘safe’ return?

2

if (!v) return null;

The other alternative is to create the GameObject you wish to return.

3

I’m pretty sure FindObjectOfType returns null if it can’t find an object, so the simplest way to do it would be:

if (v)   // if not null
   return v;
else
   return null;

Thinking about it, this is exaclty the same as just doing return v; … You could check the value upon return from the method to make sure the object you’re trying to use is not null, e.g:

Vehicle v = yourScript.GetVehicleInScene();

if (v) 
   // If not null, do stuff