I'm designing something where there are multiple different objects that can hold exactly _one_ out of a couple of different other types, and I don't know what style I prefer.

gistfile1.swift

// I'm designing something where there are multiple different objects that can hold
// exactly _one_ out of a couple of different other types, and I don't know what style I prefer.
//
// For example, an Input always has a name and it can hold a Symbol, a Target, or a Texture.
// It should always hold exactly one of them. In just the same way, a Symbol has a name and can
// hold different data of exactly exactly _one_ type of many.
// 
// Which one of the following alternatives do you prefer?



// assume an instance of Symbol (doens't matter what it looks like)
let positionSymbol = Symbol(/* ... */)


// ----- V1 ----- //
// My first though was to have a separate enum that defines the kind of value being stored (with associated values)

enum InputKind {
    case SymbolKind(Symbol)
    case TargetKind(Target)
    case TextureKind(Texture)
}

struct InputV1 {
    let name: String
    let kind: InputKind
}

// A new input is then created like this
let positionInputV1 = InputV1(name: "position", kind: .SymbolKind(positionSymbol))

// This makes it resonably easy to switch on the different kinds of data, 
// but the init gets a bit wordy and I feel like it's unnecessary to make the enum so "public"


// ----- V2 ----- //
// Next I thought that I could have optional variables for the different types of data to store

struct InputV2 {
    let name: String
    let symbol: Symbol?
    let target: Target?
    let texture: Texture?
}

// A new input is then created like this
let positionInputV2 = InputV2(name: "position", symbol: positionSymbol, target: nil, texture: nil)

// I can get to the different kinds of data using optional binding (if let), 
// but it doesn't protect me from having multiple types of data or no data at all


// ----- V3 ----- //
// Then I wend back to the first alternative an put the enum inside the stuct.

struct InputV3 {
    enum Kind {
        case SymbolKind(Symbol)
        case TargetKind(Target)
        case TextureKind(Texture)
    }
    
    let name: String
    let kind: Kind
}

// A new input is then created like this
let positionInputV3 = InputV3(name: "position", kind: .SymbolKind(positionSymbol))

// This meant that I could give the enum a shorter, more contextual name
// but still had the problem with a lengthy init



// ----- V4 ----- //

// The same problem can be solved using inheritance, but it didn't feel very Swift to me

class InputV4 {
    let name: String
    init(_ aName: String) {
        name = aName
    }
}

class SymbolInputV4 : InputV4 {
    let symbol: Symbol
    init(_ aName: String, symbol aSymbol:Symbol) {
        symbol = aSymbol
        super.init(aName)
    }
}

class TargetInputV4 : InputV4 {
    let target: Target
    init(_ aName: String, symbol aTarget:Target) {
        target = aTarget
        super.init(aName)
    }
}

class TextureInputV4 : InputV4 {
    let texture: Texture
    init(_ aName: String, symbol aTexture:Texture) {
        texture = aTexture
        super.init(aName)
    }
}

// A new input is then created like this
let positionInputV4 = SymbolInputV4("position", symbol: positionSymbol)


// Which version do you prefer? Do you have any other versions that I haven't thought of?

What about generics?
https://gist.github.com/sofacoder/ebf0ef6077c0be078376