Exceptions in java are any abnormal, unexpected events or extraordinary conditions that may occur at runtime. They could be file not found exception, unable to get connection exception and so on. On such conditions java throws an exception object. Java Exceptions are basically Java objects. No Project can never escape a java error exception.
Java exception handling is used to handle error conditions in a program systematically by taking the necessary action. Exception handlers can be written to catch a specific exception such as Number Format exception, or an entire group of exceptions by using a generic exception handlers. Any exceptions not specifically handled within a Java program are caught by the Java run time environment
An exception is a subclass of the Exception/Error class, both of which are subclasses of the Throwable class. Java exceptions are raised with the throw keyword and handled within a catch block.
A Program Showing How the JVM throws an Exception at runtime
public class DivideException {
public static void main(String[] args) {
division(100,4); // Line 1
division(100,0); // Line 2
System.out.println("Exit main().");
}
public static void division(int totalSum, int totalNumber) {
System.out.println("Computing Division.");
int average = totalSum/totalNumber;
System.out.println("Average : "+ average);
}
}
An ArithmeticException is thrown at runtime when Line 11 is executed because integer division by 0 is an illegal operation. The “Exit main()” message is never reached in the main method
Output
Computing Division.
java.lang.ArithmeticException: / by zero
Average : 25
Computing Division.
at DivideException.division(DivideException.java:11)
at DivideException.main(DivideException.java:5)
Exception in thread “main”
Exceptions in Java
Throwable Class
The Throwable class provides a String variable that can be set by the subclasses to provide a detail message that provides more information of the exception occurred. All classes of throwables define a one-parameter constructor that takes a string as the detail message.
The class Throwable provides getMessage() function to retrieve an exception. It has a printStackTrace() method to print the stack trace to the standard error stream. Lastly It also has a toString() method to print a short description of the exception. For more information on what is printed when the following messages are invoked, please refer the java docs.
Syntax
String getMessage()
void printStackTrace()
String toString()
Class Exception
The class Exception represents exceptions that a program faces due to abnormal or special conditions during execution. Exceptions can be of 2 types: Checked (Compile time Exceptions)/ Unchecked (Run time Exceptions).
Class RuntimeException
Runtime exceptions represent programming errors that manifest at runtime. For example ArrayIndexOutOfBounds, NullPointerException and so on are all subclasses of the java.lang.RuntimeException class, which is a subclass of the Exception class. These are basically business logic programming errors.
Class Error
Errors are irrecoverable condtions that can never be caught. Example: Memory leak, LinkageError etc. Errors are direct subclass of Throwable class.
Checked and Unchecked Exceptions
Checked exceptions are subclass’s of Exception excluding class RuntimeException and its subclasses. Checked Exceptions forces programmers to deal with the exception that may be thrown. Example: Arithmetic exception. When a checked exception occurs in a method, the method must either catch the exception and take the appropriate action, or pass the exception on to its caller
Unchecked exceptions are RuntimeException and any of its subclasses. Class Error and its subclasses also are unchecked. Unchecked exceptions , however, the compiler doesn’t force the programmers to either catch the exception or declare it in a throws clause. In fact, the programmers may not even know that the exception could be thrown. Example: ArrayIndexOutOfBounds Exception. They are either irrecoverable (Errors) and the program should not attempt to deal with them, or they are logical programming errors. (Runtime Exceptions). Checked exceptions must be caught at compile time. Runtime exceptions do not need to be. Errors often cannot be.
Exception Statement Syntax
Exceptions are handled using a try-catch-finally construct, which has the Syntax
try {
<code>
} catch (<exception type1> <parameter1>) { // 0 or more
<statements>
}
} finally { // finally block
<statements>
}
try Block
The java code that you think may produce an exception is placed within a try block for a
suitable catch block to handle the error.
If no exception occurs the execution proceeds with the finally block else it will look for the matching catch block to handle the error. Again if the matching catch handler is not found execution proceeds with the finally block and the default exception handler throws an exception.. If an exception is generated within the try block, the remaining statements in the try block are not executed.
catch Block
Exceptions thrown during execution of the try block can be caught and handled in a catch block. On exit from a catch block, normal execution continues and the finally block is executed (Though the catch block throws an exception).
finally Block
A finally block is always executed, regardless of the cause of exit from the try block, or whether any catch block was executed. Generally finally block is used for freeing resources, cleaning up, closing connections etc. If the finally clock executes a control transfer statement such as a return or a break statement, then this control
statement determines how the execution will proceed regardless of any return or control statement present in the try or catch.
The following program illustrates the scenario.
try {
<code>
} catch (<exception type1> <parameter1>) { // 0 or more
<statements>
}
} finally { // finally block
<statements>
}
Download DivideException2.java
Output
Computing Division.
Exception : / by zero
Finally Block Executes. Exception Occurred
result : -1
Below is a program showing the Normal Execution of the Program.
Please note that no NullPointerException is generated as was expected by most people
public class DivideException2 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int result = division(100,0); // Line 2
System.out.println("result : "+result);
}
public static int division(int totalSum, int totalNumber) {
int quotient = -1;
System.out.println("Computing Division.");
try{
quotient = totalSum/totalNumber;
}
catch(Exception e){
System.out.println("Exception : "+ e.getMessage());
}
finally{
if(quotient != -1){
System.out.println("Finally Block Executes");
System.out.println("Result : "+ quotient);
}else{
System.out.println("Finally Block Executes. Exception Occurred");
return quotient;
}
}
return quotient;
}
}
Output
null (And not NullPointerException)
