Exceptions in Java

 An exception in Java is an event, which occurs during the execution of a program that disrupts the normal flow of the program.

When an error occurs within a method, the method creates an object and hands it off to the runtime system. The object, contains information about the error, including exception type and the state of the program when the error occurred and is called an exception object. Creating an exception object and handing it to the runtime system is called throwing an exception.

The runtime system searches the call stack for a method that contains a block of code that can handle the exception. This block of code is called an exception handler.

An exception can occur for many different reasons. Following are some scenarios where an exception occurs.

• A user has entered an invalid data.
• A file that needs to be opened cannot be found.
• A network connection has been lost in the middle of communications or the JVM has run out of memory.

The Three Kinds of Exceptions

• Checked exceptions − Checked exception is an exception that occurs at the compile time, and are also called as compile time exceptions. As these exceptions occur at the time of compilation of code, the programmer should take care to handle these exceptions.
• Unchecked exceptions − Unchecked exception is an exception that occurs at the time of execution. As they occur at time of execution they are also called as Runtime Exceptions. These type of exception include programming bugs, such as logic errors or improper use of an API.
• Errors − Errors are not exceptions, but problems that arise beyond the control of the user or the programmer. Errors are typically ignored in the code because you can rarely do anything about an error. For example, out of memory error.

Catching and Handling Exceptions

The exception mechanism in Java uses three exception handler components — the try, catch, and finally blocks.

The try Block

The try block is used to enclose the code which might throw an exception.

try {

    code

}

If an exception occurs within the try block, that exception is handled by an exception handler associated with it. To associate an exception handler with a try block, you must put a catch block after it.

The Catch Block

We associate exception handlers with a try block by providing one or more catch blocks directly after the try block.

try {

//some code that throws Exception

} catch (ExceptionType name) {

// code that is invoked once the exception is thrown

} catch (ExceptionType name) {

// code that is invoked once the exception is thrown

}

Each catch block is an exception handler that handles the type of exception indicated by its argument.

The catch block contains code that is executed if and when the exception handler is invoked.

The finally Block

The finally block always executes when the try block exits.

This ensures that the finally block is executed even if an unexpected exception occurs.

finally is useful for more than just exception handling — it allows the programmer to write the clean-up code , even if there are no exceptions.

 finally{

 // code for clean up

 }

Advantages of Exceptions

• Separating Error-Handling Code from "Regular" Code.

• Propagating Errors Up the Call Stack.

• Grouping and Differentiating Error Types

Exceptions in Java