-- TODO Luau: needs overloads to model this more correctly

return function<T>(value: { [string]: T } | Array<T> | string): Array<T> | Array<string>
	if value == nil then
		error("cannot extract values from a nil value")
	end
	local valueType = typeof(value)

	local array: Array<T> | Array<string>
	if valueType == "table" then
		array = {} :: Array<T>
		for _, keyValue in pairs(value :: { [string]: T } | Array<T>) do
			table.insert(array, keyValue)
		end
	elseif valueType == "string" then
		-- optimization to avoid rehashing/growth
		local valueStringLength = (value :: string):len()
		array = table.create(valueStringLength)
		for i = 1, valueStringLength do
			(array :: Array<string>)[i] = (value :: string):sub(i, i)
		end
	end

	return array
end
