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Exception Handling

Exception handling in Java allows programs to handle runtime errors gracefully. Exceptions can be checked or unchecked and built-in exceptions include IOException and SQLException. The try-catch block allows code to be tested for errors and catch specific exception types, while finally ensures cleanup code always runs.

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24 views

Exception Handling

Exception handling in Java allows programs to handle runtime errors gracefully. Exceptions can be checked or unchecked and built-in exceptions include IOException and SQLException. The try-catch block allows code to be tested for errors and catch specific exception types, while finally ensures cleanup code always runs.

Uploaded by

hiramanbhonde
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Exception Handling in Java is one of the effective means to handle runtime

errors so that the regular flow of the application can be preserved. Java Exception
Handling is a mechanism to handle runtime errors such as
ClassNotFoundException, IOException, SQLException, RemoteException, etc.
What are Java Exceptions?
In Java, Exception is an unwanted or unexpected event, which occurs during
the execution of a program, i.e. at run time, that disrupts the normal flow of the
program’s instructions. Exceptions can be caught and handled by the program.
When an exception occurs within a method, it creates an object. This object is
called the exception object. It contains information about the exception, such as
the name and description of the exception and the state of the program when the
exception occurred.
Major reasons why an exception Occurs
• Invalid user input
• Device failure
• Loss of network connection
• Physical limitations (out-of-disk memory)
• Code errors
• Opening an unavailable file
Errors represent irrecoverable conditions such as Java virtual machine (JVM)
running out of memory, memory leaks, stack overflow errors, library
incompatibility, infinite recursion, etc. Errors are usually beyond the control of the
programmer, and we should not try to handle errors.
Difference between Error and Exception
Let us discuss the most important part which is the differences between Error
and Exception that is as follows:

• Error: An Error indicates a serious problem that a reasonable application


should not try to catch.
• Exception: Exception indicates conditions that a reasonable application
might try to catch.
Exception Hierarchy
All exception and error types are subclasses of the class Throwable, which is
the base class of the hierarchy. One branch is headed by Exception. This class
is used for exceptional conditions that user programs should catch.
NullPointerException is an example of such an exception. Another
branch, Error is used by the Java run-time system(JVM) to indicate errors having
to do with the run-time environment itself(JRE). StackOverflowError is an
example of such an error.
Java Exception Hierarchy

Types of Exceptions
Java defines several types of exceptions that relate to its various class libraries.
Java also allows users to define their own exceptions.
Exceptions can be categorized in two ways:
1. Built-in Exceptions
• Checked Exception
• Unchecked Exception
2. User-Defined Exceptions
Let us discuss the above-defined listed exception that is as follows:
1. Built-in Exceptions
Built-in exceptions are the exceptions that are available in Java libraries. These
exceptions are suitable to explain certain error situations.
• Checked Exceptions: Checked exceptions are called compile-time
exceptions because these exceptions are checked at compile-time by the
compiler.

• Unchecked Exceptions: The unchecked exceptions are just opposite to the


checked exceptions. The compiler will not check these exceptions at compile
time. In simple words, if a program throws an unchecked exception, and
even if we didn’t handle or declare it, the program would not give a
compilation error.

2. User-Defined Exceptions:
Sometimes, the built-in exceptions in Java are not able to describe a certain
situation. In such cases, users can also create exceptions, which are called ‘user-
defined Exceptions’.
The advantages of Exception Handling in Java are as follows:
1. Provision to Complete Program Execution
2. Easy Identification of Program Code and Error-Handling Code
3. Propagation of Errors
4. Meaningful Error Reporting
5. Identifying Error Types
Methods to print the Exception information:
1. printStackTrace()
This method prints exception information in the format of the Name of the
exception: description of the exception, stack trace.
Example:
• Java

//program to print the exception information using printStackTrace() method

import java.io.*;

class GFG {

public static void main (String[] args) {

int a=5;

int b=0;

try{

System.out.println(a/b);

catch(ArithmeticException e){

e.printStackTrace();
}

Output
java.lang.ArithmeticException: / by zero
at GFG.main(File.java:10)
2. toString()
The toString() method prints exception information in the format of the Name of
the exception: description of the exception.
Example:
• Java

//program to print the exception information using toString() method

import java.io.*;

class GFG1 {

public static void main (String[] args) {

int a=5;

int b=0;

try{

System.out.println(a/b);

}
catch(ArithmeticException e){

System.out.println(e.toString());

Output
java.lang.ArithmeticException: / by zero
3. getMessage()
The getMessage() method prints only the description of the exception.
Example:
• Java

//program to print the exception information using getMessage() method

import java.io.*;

class GFG1 {

public static void main (String[] args) {

int a=5;

int b=0;

try{

System.out.println(a/b);
}

catch(ArithmeticException e){

System.out.println(e.getMessage());

Output
/ by zero

What is try () in Java?


Definition and Usage. The try keyword creates a try... catch statement. The try
statement allows you to define a block of code to be tested for errors while it is being
executed. The catch statement allows you to define a block of code to be executed, if
an error occurs in the try block.

How Does JVM Handle an Exception?


Default Exception Handling: Whenever inside a method, if an exception has
occurred, the method creates an Object known as an Exception Object and hands
it off to the run-time system(JVM). The exception object contains the name and
description of the exception and the current state of the program where the
exception has occurred. Creating the Exception Object and handling it in the run-
time system is called throwing an Exception. There might be a list of the methods
that had been called to get to the method where an exception occurred. This
ordered list of methods is called Call Stack. Now the following procedure will
happen.
• The run-time system searches the call stack to find the method that contains
a block of code that can handle the occurred exception. The block of the
code is called an Exception handler.
• The run-time system starts searching from the method in which the
exception occurred and proceeds through the call stack in the reverse order
in which methods were called.
• If it finds an appropriate handler, then it passes the occurred exception to it.
An appropriate handler means the type of exception object thrown matches
the type of exception object it can handle.
• If the run-time system searches all the methods on the call stack and
couldn’t have found the appropriate handler, then the run-time system
handover the Exception Object to the default exception handler, which is
part of the run-time system. This handler prints the exception information in
the following format and terminates the program abnormally.
Exception in thread "xxx" Name of Exception : Description
... ...... .. // Call Stack
Look at the below diagram to understand the flow of the call stack.

How to Use the Try-catch Clause?


try {
// block of code to monitor for errors
// the code you think can raise an exception
} catch (ExceptionType1 exOb) {
// exception handler for ExceptionType1
} catch (ExceptionType2 exOb) {
// exception handler for ExceptionType2
}
// optional
finally { // block of code to be executed after try block ends
}

Certain key points need to be remembered that are as follows:


• In a method, there can be more than one statement that might throw an
exception, So put all these statements within their own try block and provide
a separate exception handler within their own catch block for each of them.
• If an exception occurs within the try block, that exception is handled by the
exception handler associated with it. To associate the exception handler, we
must put a catch block after it. There can be more than one exception
handler. Each catch block is an exception handler that handles the
exception to the type indicated by its argument. The argument,
ExceptionType declares the type of exception that it can handle and must be
the name of the class that inherits from the Throwable class.
• For each try block, there can be zero or more catch blocks, but only
one final block.
• The finally block is optional. It always gets executed whether an exception
occurred in try block or not. If an exception occurs, then it will be executed
after try and catch blocks. And if an exception does not occur, then it will
be executed after the try block. The finally block in Java is used to put
important codes such as clean-up code e.g., closing the file or closing the
connection.
• If we write System.exit in the try block, then finally block will not be executed.
The summary is depicted via visual aid below as follows:
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