Python Material

TOPIC – 9 PYTHON EXCEPTION HANDLING

In this article, we will discuss how to handle exceptions in Python using try, except, and finally statements
with the help of proper examples.
Error in Python can be of two types i.e. Syntax errors and Exceptions. Errors are problems in a program
due to which the program will stop the execution. On the other hand, exceptions are raised when some
internal events occur which change the normal flow of the program.
Different types of exceptions in python:

In Python, there are several built-in Python exceptions that can be raised when an error occurs during the
execution of a program. Here are some of the most common types of exceptions in Python:
• SyntaxError: This exception is raised when the interpreter encounters a syntax error in the code,
such as a misspelled keyword, a missing colon, or an unbalanced parenthesis.
• TypeError: This exception is raised when an operation or function is applied to an object of the
wrong type, such as adding a string to an integer.
• NameError: This exception is raised when a variable or function name is not found in the current
scope.
• IndexError: This exception is raised when an index is out of range for a list, tuple, or other
sequence types.
• KeyError: This exception is raised when a key is not found in a dictionary.
• ValueError: This exception is raised when a function or method is called with an invalid argument
or input, such as trying to convert a string to an integer when the string does not represent a valid
integer.
• AttributeError: This exception is raised when an attribute or method is not found on an object,
such as trying to access a non-existent attribute of a class instance.
• IOError: This exception is raised when an I/O operation, such as reading or writing a file, fails due
to an input/output error.
• ZeroDivisionError: This exception is raised when an attempt is made to divide a number by zero.
• ImportError: This exception is raised when an import statement fails to find or load a module.
These are just a few examples of the many types of exceptions that can occur in Python. It’s important to
handle exceptions properly in your code using try-except blocks or other error-handling techniques, in
order to gracefully handle errors and prevent the program from crashing.
Difference between Syntax Error and Exceptions
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Syntax Error: As the name suggests this error is caused by the wrong syntax in the code. It leads to the
termination of the program.
Example:
There is a syntax error in the code . The ‘if' statement should be followed by a colon (:), and
the ‘print' statement should be indented to be inside the ‘if' block.
Python
1
amount = 10000
2
if(amount > 2999)
3
print("You are eligible to purchase Dsa Self Paced")
Output:

Exceptions: Exceptions are raised when the program is syntactically correct, but the code results in an
error. This error does not stop the execution of the program, however, it changes the normal flow of the
program.
Example:
Here in this code as we are dividing the ‘marks’ by zero so a error will occur known as ‘ZeroDivisionError’.
‘ZeroDivisionError’ occurs when we try to divide any number by 0.

marks = 10000
a = marks / 0

print(a)
Output:

In the above example raised the ZeroDivisionError as we are trying to divide a number by 0.
Note: Exception is the base class for all the exceptions in Python. You can check the exception
hierarchy here. (https://docs.python.org/2/library/exceptions.html#exception-hierarchy)
Example:
1) TypeError: This exception is raised when an operation or function is applied to an object of the wrong
type. Here’s an example:
Here a ‘TypeError’ is raised as both the datatypes are different which are being added.
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x=5
y = "hello"

z=x+y
output:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "7edfa469-9a3c-4e4d-98f3-5544e60bff4e.py", line 4, in <module>
z=x+y
TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'int' and 'str'
try catch block to resolve it:
The code attempts to add an integer (‘x') and a string (‘y') together, which is not a valid operation, and it
will raise a ‘TypeError'. The code used a ‘try' and ‘except' block to catch this exception and print an error
message.

x=5

y = "hello"

try:

z=x+y

except TypeError:

print("Error: cannot add an int and a str")

Output
Error: cannot add an int and a str

Try and Except Statement – Catching Exceptions

Try and except statements are used to catch and handle exceptions in Python. Statements that can raise
exceptions are wrapped inside the try block and the statements that handle the exception are written
inside except block.
Example: Here we are trying to access the array element whose index is out of bound and handle the
corresponding exception.

a = [1, 2, 3]

try:

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print ("Second element = %d" %(a[1]))

print ("Fourth element = %d" %(a[3]))

except:

print ("An error occurred")

Output
Second element = 2
An error occurred

In the above example, the statements that can cause the error are placed inside the try statement (second
print statement in our case). The second print statement tries to access the fourth element of the list
which is not there and this throws an exception. This exception is then caught by the except statement.

Catching Specific Exception

A try statement can have more than one except clause, to specify handlers for different exceptions. Please
note that at most one handler will be executed. For example, we can add IndexError in the above code.
The general syntax for adding specific exceptions are –
try:
# statement(s)
except IndexError:
# statement(s)
except ValueError:
# statement(s)
Example: Catching specific exceptions in the Python
The code defines a function ‘fun(a)' that calculates b based on the input a. If a is less than 4, it attempts a
division by zero, causing a ‘ZeroDivisionError'. The code calls fun(3) and fun(5) inside a try-except block. It
handles the ZeroDivisionError for fun(3) and prints “ZeroDivisionError Occurred and
Handled.” The ‘NameError' block is not executed since there are no ‘NameError' exceptions in the code.

def fun(a):

if a < 4:

b = a/(a-3)

print("Value of b = ", b)

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try:

fun(3)

fun(5)

except ZeroDivisionError:

print("ZeroDivisionError Occurred and Handled")

except NameError:

print("NameError Occurred and Handled")

Output
ZeroDivisionError Occurred and Handled
If you comment on the line fun(3), the output will be
NameError Occurred and Handled

The output above is so because as soon as python tries to access the value of b, NameError occurs.

Try with Else Clause

In Python, you can also use the else clause on the try-except block which must be present after all the
except clauses. The code enters the else block only if the try clause does not raise an exception.
Try with else clause
The code defines a function AbyB(a, b) that calculates c as ((a+b) / (a-b)) and handles a
potential ZeroDivisionError. It prints the result if there’s no division by zero error. Calling AbyB(2.0,
3.0) calculates and prints -5.0, while calling AbyB(3.0, 3.0) attempts to divide by zero, resulting in
a ZeroDivisionError, which is caught and “a/b results in 0” is printed.

def AbyB(a , b):

try:

c = ((a+b) / (a-b))

except ZeroDivisionError:

print ("a/b result in 0")

else:
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print (c)

AbyB(2.0, 3.0)

AbyB(3.0, 3.0)
Output:
-5.0
a/b result in 0

Finally Keyword in Python

Python provides a keyword finally, which is always executed after the try and except blocks. The final
block always executes after the normal termination of the try block or after the try block terminates due to
some exception. The code within the finally block is always executed.
Syntax:
try:
# Some Code....
except:
# optional block
# Handling of exception (if required)
else:
# execute if no exception
finally:
# Some code .....(always executed)

Example:
The code attempts to perform integer division by zero, resulting in a ZeroDivisionError. It catches the
exception and prints “Can’t divide by zero.” Regardless of the exception, the finally block is executed and
prints “This is always executed.”

try:

k = 5//0

print(k)

except ZeroDivisionError:

print("Can't divide by zero")

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finally:

print('This is always executed')

Output:
Can't divide by zero
This is always executed

Raising Exception
The raise statement allows the programmer to force a specific exception to occur. The sole argument in
raise indicates the exception to be raised. This must be either an exception instance or an exception class
(a class that derives from Exception).

This code intentionally raises a NameError with the message “Hi there” using the raise statement within
a try block. Then, it catches the NameError exception, prints “An exception,” and re-raises the same
exception using raise. This demonstrates how exceptions can be raised and handled in Python, allowing
for custom error messages and further exception propagation.

try:

raise NameError("Hi there")

except NameError:

print ("An exception")

raise
The output of the above code will simply line printed as “An exception” but a Runtime error will also occur
in the last due to the raise statement in the last line. So, the output on your command line will look like
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/d6ec14ca595b97bff8d8034bbf212a9f.py", line 5, in <module>
raise NameError("Hi there") # Raise Error
NameError: Hi there

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