Exception Handling (cont’d)

COMP 1112 Object Oriented

Programming Spring 2024
 Exception Types
ClassNotFoundException

ArithmeticException
IOException

Exception NullPointerException
RuntimeException
IndexOutOfBoundsException
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Object Throwable IllegalArgumentException

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LinkageError

Error VirtualMachineError

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 System Errors
ClassNotFoundException

ArithmeticException
IOException

Exception NullPointerException
RuntimeException
IndexOutOfBoundsException
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Object Throwable IllegalArgumentException

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System errors are thrown by JVM LinkageError
and represented in the Error class.
The Error class describes internal Error VirtualMachineError
system errors. Such errors rarely
occur. If one does, there is little
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you can do beyond notifying the
user and trying to terminate the
program gracefully.
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 Exceptions
Exception describes errors
caused by your program ClassNotFoundException

and external ArithmeticException

circumstances. These IOException
errors can be caught and Exception NullPointerException
handled by your program. RuntimeException
IndexOutOfBoundsException
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Object Throwable
IllegalArgumentException
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LinkageError

Error VirtualMachineError

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 Runtime Exceptions
ClassNotFoundException

ArithmeticException
IOException

Exception NullPointerException
RuntimeException
IndexOutOfBoundsException
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Object Throwable
IllegalArgumentException
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LinkageError
RuntimeException is caused by
programming errors, such as bad
Error VirtualMachineError casting, accessing an out-of-bounds
array, and numeric errors.
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 Checked Exceptions vs.
Unchecked Exceptions
RuntimeException, Error and their subclasses are
known as unchecked exceptions. All other
exceptions are known as checked exceptions,
meaning that the compiler forces the programmer
to check and deal with the exceptions.

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 Unchecked Exceptions
● In most cases, unchecked exceptions reflect programming logic
errors that are not recoverable.
● For example, a NullPointerException is thrown if you access an
object through a reference variable before an object is assigned to
it;
● an IndexOutOfBoundsException is thrown if you access an
element in an array outside the bounds of the array.
● These are the logic errors that should be corrected in the program.
● Unchecked exceptions can occur anywhere in the program.
● To avoid cumbersome overuse of try-catch blocks, Java does not
mandate you to write code to catch unchecked exceptions.

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 Unchecked Exceptions
ClassNotFoundException

ArithmeticException
IOException

Exception NullPointerException
RuntimeException
IndexOutOfBoundsException
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Object Throwable
IllegalArgumentException
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LinkageError

Error VirtualMachineError Unchecked

exception.
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 Declaring, Throwing, and
Catching Exceptions

method1() { declare exception

method2() throws Exception {
try {
invoke method2; if (an error occurs) {
}
catch exception throw new Exception(); throw exception
catch (Exception ex) { }
Process exception; }
} }

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 Declaring Exceptions

Every method must state the types of checked exceptions it might throw.
This is known as declaring exceptions.
public void myMethod() throws IOException

public void myMethod()throws IOException, OtherException

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 Throwing Exceptions
When the program detects an error, the program can create
an instance of an appropriate exception type and throw it.
This is known as throwing an exception. Here is an example,

throw new TheException();

TheException ex = new TheException();

throw ex;

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 Throwing Exceptions Example

/** Set a new radius */

public void setRadius(double newRadius) throws
IllegalArgumentException
{
if (newRadius >= 0)
radius = newRadius;
else
throw new IllegalArgumentException("Radius cannot be
negative");
}

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 Catching Exceptions
try {
statements; // Statements that may throw exceptions
}
catch (Exception1 exVar1) {
handler for exception1;
}
catch (Exception2 exVar2) {
handler for exception2;
}
...
catch (ExceptionN exVar3) {
handler for exceptionN;
}

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 Catching Exceptions
main method { method1 { method2 { An exception
... ... ... is thrown in
try { try { method3
try {
... ... ...
invoke method1; invoke method2; invoke method3;
statement1; statement3; statement5;
} } }
catch (Exception1 ex1) { catch (Exception2 ex2) { catch (Exception3 ex3) {
Process ex1; Process ex2; Process ex3;
} } }
statement2; statement4; statement6;
} } }

Call Stack
method3

method2 method2
method1
method1 method1
main method
main method main method main method

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 Catch or Declare Checked Exceptions

Suppose p2 is defined as
follows:
void p2() throws IOException {
if (a file does not exist) {
throw new IOException("File does not exist");
}

...
}

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Catch or Declare Checked Exceptions
● Java forces you to deal with checked exceptions.
● If a method declares a checked exception (i.e., an exception other than
Error or RuntimeException), you must invoke it in a try-catch block or
declare to throw the exception in the calling method.
● For example, suppose that method p1 invokes method p2 and p2 may
throw a checked exception (e.g., IOException), you have to write the
code as shown in (a) or (b).

void p1() {
try {
p2();
}
void p1() throws IOException {
catch (IOException ex) {
... p2();
}
} }

(a) (b)
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Example: Declaring, Throwing, and
Catching Exceptions
•Objective: This example demonstrates declaring,
throwing, and catching exceptions by modifying
the setRadius method in the Circle class defined
previously.
•The new setRadius method throws an
exception if radius is negative.

CircleWithException

TestCircleWithException Run

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CircleWithException.java
TestCircleWithException.java
The finally Clause
try {
statements;
}
catch(TheException ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

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animation
Trace a Program Execution
Suppose no
exceptions in the
statements
try {
statements;
}
catch(TheException ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

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animation
Trace a Program Execution

The final block is

try { always executed
statements;
}
catch(TheException ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

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animation
Trace a Program Execution

Next statement in the

try { method is executed
statements;
}
catch(TheException ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

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animation
Trace a Program Execution
try { Suppose an exception
statement1; of type Exception1 is
statement2;
thrown in statement2
statement3;
}
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

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animation
Trace a Program Execution
try { The exception is
statement1; handled.
statement2;
statement3;
}
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

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animation

Trace a Program Execution

try { The final block is
statement1; always executed.
statement2;
statement3;
}
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

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animation
Trace a Program Execution
try { The next statement in
statement1; the method is now
statement2;
executed.
statement3;
}
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

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animation
Trace a Program Execution
try {
statement1;
statement2; statement2 throws an
statement3; exception of type
} Exception2.
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
catch(Exception2 ex) {
handling ex;
throw ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

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animation
Trace a Program Execution
try {
statement1; Handling exception
statement2;
statement3;
}
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
catch(Exception2 ex) {
handling ex;
throw ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

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animation
Trace a Program Execution
try {
statement1; Execute the final block
statement2;
statement3;
}
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
catch(Exception2 ex) {
handling ex;
throw ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

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animation
Trace a Program Execution
try {
statement1;
statement2; Rethrow the exception
statement3; and control is
} transferred to the caller
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
catch(Exception2 ex) {
handling ex;
throw ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

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 Cautions When Using Exceptions
• Exception handling separates error-handling code from
normal programming tasks, thus making programs
easier to read and to modify.

• Be aware, however, that exception handling usually

requires more time and resources
○ because it requires instantiating a new exception object,
○ rolling back the call stack, and
○ propagating the errors to the calling methods.

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 When to Throw Exceptions
• An exception occurs in a method.
• If you want the exception to be processed by its
caller, you should create an exception object and
throw it.
• If you can handle the exception in the method
where it occurs, there is no need to throw it.

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 When to Use Exceptions
● When should you use the try-catch block in the code?
You should use it to deal with unexpected error
conditions.
● Do not use it to deal with simple, expected situations.
For example, the following code
try {
System.out.println(refVar.toString());
}
catch (NullPointerException ex) {
System.out.println("refVar is null");
}
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 When to Use Exceptions
is better to be replaced by
if (refVar != null)
System.out.println(refVar.toString());

else
System.out.println("refVar is null");

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 Defining Custom Exception Classes

✦ Use the exception classes in the API whenever possible.

✦ Define custom exception classes if the predefined
classes are not sufficient.
✦ Define custom exception classes by extending
Exception or a subclass of Exception.

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 Custom Exception Class Example
In setRadius method throws an exception if the radius is
negative.
Suppose you wish to pass the radius to the handler, you have to
create a custom exception class.

InvalidRadiusException

CircleWithRadiusException

TestCircleWithRadiusException Run

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