An exception is an occurrence in an application process that requires deviation from the program's normal flow.
10
votes
4answers
502 views
Using assertions versus throwing exceptions?
Often when I write a functions I want to make sure the inputs to it are valid in order to detect such errors as early as possible (I believe these are called preconditions). When a precondition fails, ...
14
votes
6answers
2k views
Efficient try / catch block usage?
Should catch blocks be used for writing logic i.e. handle flow control etc? Or just for throwing exceptions? Does it effect efficiency or maintainability of code?
What are the side effects (if there ...
11
votes
9answers
2k views
if/else statements or exceptions [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Defensive Programming vs Exception Handling?
I don't know, that this question fit better on this site, or Stack Overflow, but because my question is connected rather to ...
8
votes
2answers
255 views
Use an else after exception (or not)
Consider this bit of code:
if (x == 1)
{
throw "no good; aborting" ;
}
[... more code ...]
Now consider this code:
if (x == 1)
{
throw "no good; aborting" ;
}
else
{
[... more code ...]
}
...
19
votes
12answers
1k views
How to teach Exception Handling for New Programmers?
How do you go about teaching Exception Handling to Programmers. All other things are taught easily - Data Structures, ASP.NET, WinForms, WPF, WCF - you name it, everything can be taught easily.
With ...
41
votes
10answers
2k views
I've been told that Exceptions should only be used in exceptional cases. How do I know if my case is exceptional?
My specific case here is that the user can pass in a string into the application, the application parses it and assigns it to structured objects. Sometimes the user may type in something invalid. ...
34
votes
10answers
3k views
Are there any real-world cases for C++ without exceptions?
In When to use C over C++, and C++ over C? there is a statement wrt. to code size / C++ exceptions:
Jerry answers (among other points):
(...) it tends to be more difficult to produce truly tiny ...
23
votes
3answers
1k views
Python Forgiveness vs. Permission and Duck Typing
In Python, I often hear that it is better to "beg forgiveness" (exception catching) instead of "ask permission" (type/condition checking). In regards to enforcing duck typing in Python, is this
try:
...
4
votes
3answers
387 views
Improving exception handling? [duplicate]
I am a newbie programmer and I recently started learning about exception handling in Java.
I know what try, catch and finally blocks do, but I really need to understand how to use them well and where ...
14
votes
1answer
902 views
Who designed exceptions?
Where did exceptions and exception handling come from?
I like how .NET uses it, I like how C++ supports it (but libraries unfortunately use return code or is written in C instead). I know its pretty ...
38
votes
14answers
4k views
Are null references really a bad thing?
I've heard it said that the inclusion of null references in programming languages is the "billion dollar mistake". But why? Sure, they can cause NullReferenceExceptions, but so what? Any element of ...
34
votes
12answers
2k views
Why are errors named as “Exception” but not as “Error” in programming languages?
I've been thinking about that for quite a while actually. I am not a native english speaker myself but still I have years of programming experience and I always asked me this. Why is it named as ...
25
votes
5answers
1k views
Is use of finally clause for doing work after return bad style/dangerous?
As part of writing an Iterator, I found myself writing the following piece of code (stripping error handling)
public T next() {
try {
return next;
} finally {
next = ...
24
votes
7answers
9k views
Why use try … finally without a catch clause?
The classical way to program is with try / catch but when is it appropriate to use try without catch? In Python the following appears legal and can make sense:
try:
#do work
finally:
#do ...
11
votes
9answers
1k views
What's the best way to manage error logging for exceptions?
Introduction
If an error occurs on a website or system, it is of course useful to log it, and show the user a polite message with a reference code for the error.
And if you have lots of systems, you ...
10
votes
2answers
168 views
What would be the best way to handle errors in parallel programs?
With parallel algorithms knocking at the door, it might be a good time to think about error handling.
So at first there were error codes. Those sucked. It was free to ignore them, so you could fail ...
16
votes
7answers
2k views
Is it good practice to catch a checked exception and throw a RuntimeException?
I read some code of a colleague and found that he often catches various exceptions and then always throws a 'RuntimeException' instead. I always thought this is very bad practice. Am I wrong?
7
votes
6answers
2k views
Do you handle Out-Of-Memory conditions?
What do you do when malloc returns 0 or new throws exception? Just halt or try to survive OOM condition/save the user's work?
29
votes
19answers
2k views
Is it ever ok to have an empty catch statement?
I thought about it and could not come up with an example. Why would somebody want to catch an exception and do nothing about it? Can you give an example? Maybe it is just something that should never ...
19
votes
13answers
2k views
Why are null references shunned while throwing exceptions is considered okay?
I don't quite understand the consistent bashing of null references by some programming language folks. What's so bad about them? If I request read access to a file that doesn't exist then I'm ...
8
votes
5answers
450 views
How much redundancy/robustness should complex software implement?
The focus of this question: Some software performs "extra work" in order to increase the chance of a "eventually successful/satisfactory" outcome, despite one or more internal errors in the software, ...
