Exception handling (programming): Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added
MaD70 (talk | contribs)
Condition systems: Updated link to "Condition System Concepts" from "ANSI Common Lisp"
m Fix a syntax error
 
(49 intermediate revisions by 16 users not shown)
Line 1:
{{Short description|Computer programming concept.}}
{{broader|Exception handling}}
 
Line 23:
 
== History ==
The earliest [[IBM]] [[Fortran]] compilers had statements for testing exceptional conditions. These included the <code>IF ACCUMULATOR OVERFLOW</code>, <code>IF QUOTIENT OVERFLOW</code>, and <code>IF DIVIDE CHECK</code> statements. In the interest of machine independence, they were not included in FORTRAN IV nor the Fortran 66 Standard. However since Fortran 2003 it is possible to test for numerical issues via calls to functions in the <code>IEEE_EXCEPTIONS</code> module.
Software exception handling developed in the 1960s and 1970s. [[LISP 1.5]] (1958-1961)<ref>{{cite web |last1=McCarthy |first1=John |title=History of Lisp |url=http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/lisp/node1.html |website=www-formal.stanford.edu |access-date=13 January 2022 |date=12 February 1979}}</ref> allowed exceptions to be raised by the <code>ERROR</code> pseudo-function, similarly to errors raised by the interpreter or compiler. Exceptions were caught by the <code>ERRORSET</code> keyword, which returned <code>NIL</code> in case of an error, instead of terminating the program or entering the debugger.<ref>{{cite book|
 
Software exception handling continued to be developed in the 1960s and 1970s. [[LISP 1.5]] (1958-1961)<ref>{{cite web |last1=McCarthy |first1=John |title=History of Lisp |url=http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/lisp/node1.html |website=www-formal.stanford.edu |access-date=13 January 2022 |date=12 February 1979}}</ref> allowed exceptions to be raised by the <code>ERROR</code> pseudo-function, similarly to errors raised by the interpreter or compiler. Exceptions were caught by the <code>ERRORSET</code> keyword, which returned <code>NIL</code> in case of an error, instead of terminating the program or entering the debugger.<ref>{{cite book|
first1=John|last1=McCarthy|first2=Michael I.|last2=Levin|first3=Paul W.|last3=Abrahams|first4=Daniel J.|last4=Edwards|first5=Timothy P.|last5=Hart
|title=LISP 1.5 programmer's manual |date=14 July 1961 |url=http://www.softwarepreservation.org/projects/LISP/book/LISP%201.5%20Programmers%20Manual-1961.07.14.pdf#page=58 |access-date=13 January 2022}}</ref>
Line 52 ⟶ 54:
In its whole, exception handling code might look like this (in [[Java (programming language)|Java]]-like [[pseudocode]]):
 
<syntaxhighlight lang="CSharpJava">
try {
lineScanner stdin = console.readLinenew Scanner(System.in);
String line = stdin.nextLine();
 
if (line.length() == 0) {
throw new EmptyLineExceptionIOException("The line read from console was empty!");
}
 
consoleSystem.printLineout.printf("Hello %s!\n" %, line);
consoleSystem.printLineout.println("The programtask ranexecuted successfully.");
} catch (EmptyLineExceptionIOException e) {
consoleSystem.printLineout.println("Hello!");
} catch (Exception e) {
System.out.printf("Error: %s\n", e.getMessage());
catch (Exception e) {
} finally {
console.printLine("Error: " + e.message());
consoleSystem.printLineout.println("The program is now terminating.");
else {
console.printLine("The program ran successfully.");
finally {
console.printLine("The program is now terminating.");
}
</syntaxhighlight>
 
C does not have try-catch exception handling, but uses [[return code]]s for error checking. The [[Setjmp.h|<code>setjmp</code> and <code>longjmp</code>]] standard library functions can be used to implement try-catch handling via macros.<ref>{{citeCite journaltech |last1=Roberts |first1=Eric S. |title=Implementing Exceptions in C |date=21 March 1989report |url=http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/dec/tech_reports/SRC-RR-40.pdf |access-title=Implementing Exceptions in C |last=Roberts |first=Eric S. |date=421 JanuaryMarch 20221989 |publisher=[[DEC Systems Research Center]] |id=SRC-RR-40 |access-date=4 January 2022}}</ref>
 
[[Perl]] 5 uses <code>die</code> for <code>throw</code> and {{code|eval {} if ($@) {}|perl}} for try-catch. It has CPAN modules that offer try-catch semantics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Christiansen |first1=Tom |last2=Torkington |first2=Nathan |title=Perl cookbook |date=2003 |publisher=O'Reilly |___location=Beijing |isbn=0-596-00313-7 |edition=2nd |url=https://docstore.mik.ua/orelly/perl4/cook/ch10_13.htm |chapter=10.12. Handling Exceptions}}</ref>
Line 96 ⟶ 94:
 
The second scheme, and the one implemented in many production-quality C++ compilers and 64-bit Microsoft [[Structured Exception Handling|SEH]], is a {{visible anchor|table-driven approach|text=''table-driven'' approach}}. This creates static tables at [[compile time]] and [[link time]] that relate ranges of the [[program counter]] to the program state with respect to exception handling.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Exception handling – Supporting the runtime mechanism | last=Lajoie | first= Josée | journal=C++ Report | volume=6 | issue=3 | date=March–April 1994}}</ref> Then, if an exception is thrown, the runtime system looks up the current instruction ___location in the tables and determines what handlers are in play and what needs to be done. This approach minimizes executive overhead for the case where an exception is not thrown. This happens at the cost of some space, but this space can be allocated into read-only, special-purpose data sections that are not loaded or relocated until an exception is actually thrown.<ref name=cppeh>{{cite journal | title=Optimizing away C++ exception handling | last=Schilling | first=Jonathan L. | journal=[[SIGPLAN Notices]] | volume=33 | issue=8 | date=August 1998 | pages=40–47 | doi=10.1145/286385.286390| s2cid=1522664 | doi-access=free }}</ref> The ___location (in memory) of the code for handling an exception need not be located within (or even near) the region of memory where the rest of the function's code is stored. So if an exception is thrown then a performance hit – roughly comparable to a function call<ref name=MiscrosoftDocsExceptions>{{cite web|title=Modern C++ best practices for exceptions and error handling|work=Microsoft|date=8 March 2021|access-date=21 March 2022|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/cpp/errors-and-exception-handling-modern-cpp}}</ref> – may occur if the necessary exception handling code needs to be loaded/cached. However, this scheme has minimal performance cost if no exception is thrown. Since exceptions in C++ are supposed to be ''exceptional'' (i.e. uncommon/rare) events, the phrase "zero-cost exceptions"<ref group=note>There is "zero [processing] cost" only if no exception is throw (although there will be a memory cost since memory is needed for the lookup table). There is a (potentially significant) cost if an exception is thrown (that is, if <code>throw</code> is executed). Implementing exception handling may also limit the possible [[Optimizing compiler|compiler optimizations]] that may be performed.</ref> is sometimes used to describe exception handling in C++. Like [[runtime type identification]] (RTTI), exceptions might not adhere to C++'s [https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/Zero-overhead_principle zero-overhead principle] as implementing exception handling at run-time requires a non-zero amount of memory for the lookup table.<ref name=StroustrupExceptions2019>{{cite web|last=Stroustrup|first=Bjarne|author-link=Bjarne Stroustrup|title=C++ exceptions and alternatives|date=18 November 2019|access-date=23 March 2022|url=http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2019/p1947r0.pdf}}</ref> For this reason, exception handling (and RTTI) can be disabled in many C++ compilers, which may be useful for systems with very limited memory<ref name=StroustrupExceptions2019 /> (such as [[embedded system]]s). This second approach is also superior in terms of achieving [[thread safety]]{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}}.
 
In comparison to C++ where any type may be thrown and caught, in Java only types extending <code>Throwable</code> can be thrown and caught, and <code>Throwable</code> has two direct descendants: <code>Error</code> (indicating a serious problem a reasonable program need not catch), and <code>Exception</code> (any other condition that a reasonable program may want to catch and handle). <code>Error</code> is typically reserved for extremely serious problems beyond the scope of the program, such as <code>OutOfMemoryError</code>, <code>ThreadDeath</code>, or <code>VirtualMachineError</code>.
 
Other definitional and implementation schemes have been proposed as well. For languages that support [[metaprogramming]], approaches that involve no overhead at all (beyond the already present support for [[reflection (computer science)|reflection]]) have been advanced.<ref>M. Hof, H. Mössenböck, P. Pirkelbauer, "[http://www.ssw.uni-linz.ac.at/Research/Papers/Hof97b.html Zero-Overhead Exception Handling Using Metaprogramming] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180327/http://www.ssw.uni-linz.ac.at/Research/Papers/Hof97b.html |date=2016-03-03 }}", ''Proceedings SOFSEM'97'', November 1997, ''Lecture Notes in Computer Science 1338'', pp. 423-431.</ref>
Line 141:
Although exceptions in Eiffel have a fairly clear philosophy, Kiniry (2006) criticizes their implementation because "Exceptions that are part of the language definition are represented by INTEGER values, developer-defined exceptions by STRING values. [...] Additionally, because they are basic values and not objects, they have no inherent semantics beyond that which is expressed in a helper routine which necessarily cannot be foolproof because of the representation overloading in effect (e.g., one cannot
differentiate two integers of the same value)."<ref name="Kiniry"/>
 
[[C++26]] adds support for contracts, which are used as follows.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2025/p2900r14.pdf|title=Contracts for C++|date=13 February 2025}}</ref>
<syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">
int f(const int x)
pre(x != 1) // a precondition assertion
post(r : r == x && r != 2) // a postcondition assertion; r names the result object of f
{
contract_assert(x != 3); // an assertion statement
return x;
Each contract
</syntaxhighlight>
 
== Uncaught exceptions ==
Line 154 ⟶ 166:
 
== Checked exceptions ==
[[Java (programming language)|Java]] introduced the notion of checked exceptions,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=26101 |title=Google Answers: The origin of checked exceptions |access-date=2011-12-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110806090553/http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=26101 |archive-date=2011-08-06 }}</ref><ref>Java Language Specification, chapter 11.2. http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/third_edition/html/exceptions.html#11.2 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208042454/http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/third_edition/html/exceptions.html |date=2006-12-08 }}</ref> which are special classes of exceptions. In Java, a checked exception specifically is any <code>Exception</code> that does not extend <code>RuntimeException</code>. The checked exceptions that a method may raise must be part of the method's [[Type signature|signature]]. For instance, if a method might throw an {{Java|IOException}}, it must declare this fact explicitly in its method signature. Failure to do so raises a compile-time error. AccordingThis towould Hanspeterbe Mössenböck,declared checkedlike exceptions are less convenient but more robust.<ref>{{cite webso:
 
<syntaxhighlight lang="Java">
public void operateOnFile(File f) throws IOException {
// ...
</syntaxhighlight>
 
According to Hanspeter Mössenböck, checked exceptions are less convenient but more robust.<ref>{{cite web
|access-date = 2011-08-05
|date = 2002-03-25
Line 175 ⟶ 195:
* Scalability: In a hierarchical design, each systems may have several subsystems. Each subsystem may throw several exceptions. Each parent system must deal with the exceptions of all subsystems below it, resulting in an exponential number of exceptions to be dealt with. Checked exceptions require all of these exceptions to be dealt with explicitly.
 
To work around these, Hejlsberg says programmers resort to circumventing the feature by using a {{C++|throws Exception}} declaration. Another circumvention is to use a {{C++|<syntaxhighlight lang="java" inline>try { ... } catch (Exception e) {<nowiki> ... } </nowikisyntaxhighlight> (or even a <syntaxhighlight lang="java" inline>try { ... } catch (Throwable t) { ... } </syntaxhighlight>) handler.<ref name=Trouble/> This is referred to as catch-all exception handling or '''Pokémon exception handling''' after [[Pokémon|the show]]'s catchphrase "[[Pokémon Theme|Gotta Catch ‘Em'Em All!]]".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Juneau |first1=Josh |title=Java 9 Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach |date=31 May 2017 |publisher=Apress |isbn=978-1-4842-1976-8 |page=226 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TSYmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA226 |language=en}}</ref> The Java Tutorials discourage catch-all exception handling as it may catch exceptions "for which the handler was not intended".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/exceptions/advantages.html |title=Advantages of Exceptions (The Java™ Tutorials : Essential Classes : Exceptions) |publisher=Download.oracle.com |access-date=2011-12-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026121217/http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/exceptions/advantages.html |archive-date=2011-10-26 }}</ref> Still another discouraged circumvention is to make all exceptions subclass {{C++|RuntimeException}}.,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/exceptions/runtime.html|title=Unchecked Exceptions – The Controversy (The Java™ Tutorials : Essential Classes : Exceptions)|publisher=Download.oracle.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117042228/http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/exceptions/runtime.html|archive-date=2011-11-17|url-status=live|access-date=2011-12-15}}</ref> thus making the exception unchecked. An encouraged solution is to use a catch-all handler or throws clause but with a specific [[superclass (computer science)|superclass]] of all potentially thrown exceptions rather than the general superclass {{C++|Exception}}. Another encouraged solution is to define and declare exception types that are suitable for the level of abstraction of the called method<ref>Bloch 2001:178 {{cite book | last = Bloch | first = Joshua | year = 2001 | title = Effective Java Programming Language Guide | publisher = Addison-Wesley Professional | isbn = 978-0-201-31005-4 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/effectivejavapro00bloc }}</ref> and map lower level exceptions to these types by using [[exception chaining]].
 
=== Similar mechanisms ===
Line 181 ⟶ 201:
The roots of checked exceptions go back to the [[CLU programming language]]'s notion of exception specification.<ref name=Mindview/> A function could raise only exceptions listed in its type, but any leaking exceptions from called functions would automatically be turned into the sole runtime exception, {{code|failure}}, instead of resulting in compile-time error.<ref name="CLU">{{cite journal |last1=Liskov |first1=B.H. |last2=Snyder |first2=A. |title=Exception Handling in CLU |journal=IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering |date=November 1979 |volume=SE-5 |issue=6 |pages=546–558 |doi=10.1109/TSE.1979.230191 |s2cid=15506879 |url=http://csg.csail.mit.edu/CSGArchives/memos/Memo-155-3.pdf |access-date=19 December 2021}}</ref> Later, [[Modula-3]] had a similar feature.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/graphics/modula3/tutorial/www/m3_23.html#SEC23 |title=Modula-3 - Procedure Types |publisher=.cs.columbia.edu |date=1995-03-08 |access-date=2011-12-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509143753/http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/graphics/modula3/tutorial/www/m3_23.html#SEC23 |archive-date=2008-05-09 }}</ref> These features don't include the compile time checking that is central in the concept of checked exceptions.<ref name=Mindview>{{cite web |url=http://www.mindview.net/Etc/Discussions/CheckedExceptions |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020405175011/http://www.mindview.net/Etc/Discussions/CheckedExceptions |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-04-05 |title=Bruce Eckel's MindView, Inc: Does Java need Checked Exceptions? |publisher=Mindview.net |access-date=2011-12-15 }}</ref>
 
Early versions of the C++ programming language included an optional mechanism similar to checked exceptions, called '''exception specifications'''. By default any function could throw any exception, but this could be limited by a {{Cpp|throw}} clause (similar to the {{Java|throws}} clause in Java) added to the function signature, that specified which exceptions the function may throw.
Early versions of the C++ programming language included an optional mechanism similar to checked exceptions, called '''exception specifications'''. By default any function could throw any exception, but this could be limited by a {{Cpp|throw}} clause added to the function signature, that specified which exceptions the function may throw. Exception specifications were not enforced at compile-time. Violations resulted in the global function {{Cpp|std::unexpected}} being called.<ref name=bjarne-exc>[[Bjarne Stroustrup]], ''[[The C++ Programming Language]]'' Third Edition, [[Addison Wesley]], 1997. {{ISBN|0-201-88954-4}}. pp. 375-380.</ref> An empty exception specification could be given, which indicated that the function will throw no exception. This was not made the default when exception handling was added to the language because it would have required too much modification of existing code, would have impeded interaction with code written in other languages, and would have tempted programmers into writing too many handlers at the local level.<ref name=bjarne-exc/> Explicit use of empty exception specifications could, however, allow C++ compilers to perform significant code and stack layout optimizations that are precluded when exception handling may take place in a function.<ref name=cppeh /> Some analysts viewed the proper use of exception specifications in C++ as difficult to achieve.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Ten Guidelines for Exception Specifications | last=Reeves | first= J.W. | journal=C++ Report | volume=8 | issue=7 |date=July 1996}}</ref> This use of exception specifications was included in [[C++98]] and [[C++03]], [[deprecated]] in the 2012 C++ language standard ([[C++11]]),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://herbsutter.com/2010/03/13/trip-report-march-2010-iso-c-standards-meeting/ |title=Trip Report: March 2010 ISO C++ Standards Meeting |last=Sutter |first=Herb |author-link=Herb Sutter |date=3 March 2010 |access-date=24 March 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323082634/http://herbsutter.com/2010/03/13/trip-report-march-2010-iso-c-standards-meeting/ |archive-date=23 March 2010 }}</ref> and was removed from the language in [[C++17]]. A function that will not throw any exceptions can now be denoted by the {{Cpp|noexcept}} keyword.
 
<syntaxhighlight lang="C++">
void performSomeOperation(int a, int b) throw(std::invalid_argument, std::domain_error) {
// ...
</syntaxhighlight>
 
C++ <code>throw</code> clauses could specify any number of any types, even primitives and classes that did not extend <code>std::exception</code>.
 
Early versions of the C++ programming language included an optional mechanism similar to checked exceptions, called '''exception specifications'''. By default any function could throw any exception, but this could be limited by a {{Cpp|throw}} clause added to the function signature, that specified which exceptions the function may throw. Exception specifications were not enforced at compile-time. Violations resulted in the global function {{Cpp|std::unexpected}} being called.<ref name=bjarne-exc>[[Bjarne Stroustrup]], ''[[The C++ Programming Language]]'' Third Edition, [[Addison Wesley]], 1997. {{ISBN|0-201-88954-4}}. pp. 375-380.</ref> An empty exception specification could be given, which indicated that the function will throw no exception. This was not made the default when exception handling was added to the language because it would have required too much modification of existing code, would have impeded interaction with code written in other languages, and would have tempted programmers into writing too many handlers at the local level.<ref name=bjarne-exc/> Explicit use of empty exception specifications could, however, allow C++ compilers to perform significant code and stack layout optimizations that are precluded when exception handling may take place in a function.<ref name=cppeh /> Some analysts viewed the proper use of exception specifications in C++ as difficult to achieve.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Ten Guidelines for Exception Specifications | last=Reeves | first= J.W. | journal=C++ Report | volume=8 | issue=7 |date=July 1996}}</ref> This use of exception specifications was included in [[C++98]] and [[C++03]], [[deprecated]] in the 2012 C++ language standard ([[C++11]]),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://herbsutter.com/2010/03/13/trip-report-march-2010-iso-c-standards-meeting/ |title=Trip Report: March 2010 ISO C++ Standards Meeting |last=Sutter |first=Herb |author-link=Herb Sutter |date=3 March 2010 |access-date=24 March 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323082634/http://herbsutter.com/2010/03/13/trip-report-march-2010-iso-c-standards-meeting/ |archive-date=23 March 2010 }}</ref> and was removed from the language in [[C++17]]. Throws clauses were replaced by {{Cpp|noexcept}} clauses. A function that will not throw any exceptions canwould now be denoted by the {{Cpp|noexcept}} keyword, and instead {{Cpp|noexcept(false)}} specified that a function will throw. Although <code>throw</code> clauses are removed from the language, writing only <code>throw()</code> in the signature is legal and is equivalent to <code>noexcept</code> (no exception specified by the <code>throw</code> clause denotes that it cannot throw). For transitioning a codebase that uses <code>throw</code> clauses, they can be adapted by instead redefining them with a macro to quickly resolve rejection of the removed <code>throw</code> clause by the compiler.
 
<syntaxhighlight lang="C++">
#define throw(...) noexcept(false)
</syntaxhighlight>
 
One can also specify that a function is <code>noexcept</code> conditionally on another function being <code>noexcept</code>, like so:
 
<syntaxhighlight lang="C++">
void mightThrow();
 
// The first noexcept is the noexcept clause, the second is the noexcept operator which evaluates to a Boolean value
void f() noexcept(noexcept(mightThrow()));
</syntaxhighlight>
 
Though C++ has no checked exceptions, one can propagate the thrown object up the stack when inside a <code>catch</code> block, by writing {{cpp|throw;}} (without specifying an object). This re-throws the caught object. This allows operations to be done within the <code>catch</code> block that catches it, before choosing to allow the object to continue propagating upwards.
 
An uncaught exceptions analyzer exists for the [[OCaml]] programming language.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://caml.inria.fr/pub/old_caml_site/ocamlexc/ocamlexc.htm |title=OcamlExc - An uncaught exceptions analyzer for Objective Caml |publisher=Caml.inria.fr |access-date=2011-12-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110806090555/http://caml.inria.fr/pub/old_caml_site/ocamlexc/ocamlexc.htm |archive-date=2011-08-06 }}</ref> The tool reports the set of raised exceptions as an extended type signature. But, unlike checked exceptions, the tool does not require any syntactic annotations and is external (i.e. it is possible to compile and run a program without having checked the exceptions).
 
In C++, one can also perform "Pokémon exception handling". Like <syntaxhighlight lang="java" inline>catch (Throwable t)</syntaxhighlight> in Java, C++ supports a <syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">catch (...)</syntaxhighlight> block, which will catch any thrown object. However, <code>catch (...)</code> has the disadvantage of not naming the caught object, which means it cannot be referred to.
== Dynamic checking of exceptions ==
 
<syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">
// Catching only exceptions:
try {
// ...
} catch (const std::exception& e) {
// Catching only exceptions:
std::println("An exception was caught: {}", e.what());
} catch (...) {
// Catching all thrown objects:
std::println("An unknown error was caught");
</syntaxhighlight>
 
The [[Rust (programming language)|Rust]] language, instead of using exceptions altogether, represents recoverable exceptions as [[result type]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=std::result - Rust |url=https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/result/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009032955/https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/result/index.html |archive-date=2023-10-09 |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=doc.rust-lang.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2011-10-29 |title=stdlib: Add result module · rust-lang/rust@c1092fb |url=https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/commit/c1092fb6d88efe51e42df3aae2a321cc669e12a0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009033047/https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/commit/c1092fb6d88efe51e42df3aae2a321cc669e12a0 |archive-date=2023-10-09 |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=github.com}}</ref> This is represented as <code>Result<T, E></code> (or <code>expected<T, E></code> in C++). The advantage of result types over checked exceptions is that while both result types and checked exceptions force users to immediately handle errors, they can also be directly represented as a return type within the language's type system, unlike checked exceptions where the declared potentially thrown exception is part of the function signature but not directly part of its return type.
 
== Dynamic checking of exceptions ==
{{unsourcedsection|date=February 2025}}
The point of exception handling routines is to ensure that the code can handle error conditions. In order to establish that exception handling routines are sufficiently robust, it is necessary to present the code with a wide spectrum of invalid or unexpected inputs, such as can be created via software [[fault injection]] and [[mutation testing]] (that is also sometimes referred to as [[fuzz testing]]). One of the most difficult types of software for which to write exception handling routines is protocol software, since a robust protocol implementation must be prepared to receive input that does not comply with the relevant specification(s).
 
Line 194 ⟶ 256:
 
== Asynchronous exceptions ==
'''Asynchronous exceptions''' are events raised by a separate thread or external process, such as pressing [[Control-C|Ctrl-C]] to interrupt a program, receiving a [[Signal (computing)|signal]], or sending a disruptive message such as "stop" or "suspend" from another [[Thread (computer science)|thread of execution]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/415348.html |title=Asynchronous Exceptions in Haskell - Marlow, Jones, Moran (ResearchIndex) |publisher=Citeseer.ist.psu.edu |access-date=2011-12-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110223164151/http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/415348.html |archive-date=2011-02-23 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journaltech report|url=http://www.cs.williams.edu/~freund/papers/python.pdf |title=Safe Asynchronous Exceptions For Python |access-date=4 January 2022 |first1=Stephen N.|last1=Freund|first2=Mark P.|last2=Mitchell }}</ref> Whereas synchronous exceptions happen at a specific <code>throw</code> statement, asynchronous exceptions can be raised at any time. It follows that asynchronous exception handling can't be optimized out by the compiler, as it cannot prove the absence of asynchronous exceptions. They are also difficult to program with correctly, as asynchronous exceptions must be blocked during cleanup operations to avoid resource leaks.
 
Programming languages typically avoid or restrict asynchronous exception handling, for example C++ forbids raising exceptions from signal handlers, and Java has deprecated the use of its ThreadDeath exception that was used to allow one thread to stop another one.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/guide/misc/threadPrimitiveDeprecation.html |title=Java Thread Primitive Deprecation |publisher=Java.sun.com |access-date=2011-12-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426200153/http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/guide/misc/threadPrimitiveDeprecation.html |archive-date=2009-04-26 }}</ref> Another feature is a semi-asynchronous mechanism that raises an asynchronous exception only during certain operations of the program. For example, Java's {{C++|Thread.interrupt()}} only affects the thread when the thread calls an operation that throws {{C++|InterruptedException}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Interrupts (The Java™ Tutorials > Essential Java Classes > Concurrency) |url=https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/concurrency/interrupt.html |website=docs.oracle.com |access-date=5 January 2022}}</ref> The similar POSIX {{C++|pthread_cancel}} API has race conditions which make it impossible to use safely.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Felker |first1=Rich |title=Thread cancellation and resource leaks |url=http://ewontfix.com/2/ |website=ewontfix.com|access-date=5 January 2022}}</ref>
 
== Condition systems ==
[[Common Lisp]], [[R (programming language)|R]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=R: Condition Handling and Recovery |url=https://search.r-project.org/R/refmans/base/html/conditions.html |access-date=2024-03-25 |website=search.r-project.org}}</ref> [[Dylan (programming language)|Dylan]] and [[Smalltalk]] have a [[condition system]]<ref>{{cite web|author = What Conditions (Exceptions) are Really About|url = http://danweinreb.org/blog/what-conditions-exceptions-are-really-about|title = What Conditions (Exceptions) are Really About|publisher = Danweinreb.org|date = 2008-03-24|access-date = 2014-09-18|url-status = deadusurped|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130201124021/http://danweinreb.org/blog/what-conditions-exceptions-are-really-about|archive-date = February 1, 2013}}</ref> (see [[Common Lisp#Condition system|Common Lisp Condition System]]) that encompasses the aforementioned exception handling systems. In those languages or environments the advent of a condition (a "generalisation of an error" according to [[Kent Pitman]]) implies a function call, and only late in the exception handler the decision to unwind the stack may be taken.
 
Conditions are a generalization of exceptions. When a condition arises, an appropriate condition handler is searched for and selected, in stack order, to handle the condition. Conditions that do not represent errors may safely go unhandled entirely; their only purpose may be to propagate hints or warnings toward the user.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://franz.com/support/documentation/11.0/ansicl/section/conditio.htm |title=9.1 Condition System Concepts |publisher=Franz.com |date=2022-07-25 |access-date=2024-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607165853/https://franz.com/support/documentation/11.0/ansicl/section/conditio.htm |archive-date=2024-06-07 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Line 209 ⟶ 271:
 
=== Restarts separate mechanism from policy ===
Condition handling moreover provides a [[separation of mechanism fromand policy]]. Restarts provide various possible mechanisms for recovering from error, but do not select which mechanism is appropriate in a given situation. That is the province of the condition handler, which (since it is located in higher-level code) has access to a broader view.
 
An example: Suppose there is a library function whose purpose is to parse a single [[syslog]] file entry. What should this function do if the entry is malformed? There is no one right answer, because the same library could be deployed in programs for many different purposes. In an interactive log-file browser, the right thing to do might be to return the entry unparsed, so the user can see it—but in an automated log-summarizing program, the right thing to do might be to supply null values for the unreadable fields, but abort with an error, if too many entries have been malformed.
Line 224 ⟶ 286:
 
The [[Go (programming language)#Omissions|Go]] developers believe that the try-catch-finally idiom obfuscates [[control flow]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://golang.org/doc/faq#exceptions |title=Frequently Asked Questions |access-date=2017-04-27 |quote=We believe that coupling exceptions to a control structure, as in the try-catch-finally idiom, results in convoluted code. It also tends to encourage programmers to label too many ordinary errors, such as failing to open a file, as exceptional. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503205801/https://golang.org/doc/faq#exceptions |archive-date=2017-05-03 }}</ref> and introduced the exception-like {{code|lang=go|panic}}/{{code|lang=go|recover}} mechanism.<ref>[https://code.google.com/p/go-wiki/wiki/PanicAndRecover Panic And Recover] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024144034/https://code.google.com/p/go-wiki/wiki/PanicAndRecover |date=2013-10-24 }}, Go wiki</ref> {{code|lang=go|recover()}} differs from {{code|catch}} in that it can only be called from within a {{code|lang=go|defer}} code block in a function, so the handler can only do clean-up and change the function's return values, and cannot return control to an arbitrary point within the function.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bendersky |first1=Eli |title=On the uses and misuses of panics in Go |url=https://eli.thegreenplace.net/2018/on-the-uses-and-misuses-of-panics-in-go/ |website=Eli Bendersky's website |access-date=5 January 2022 |date=8 August 2018|quote=The specific limitation is that recover can only be called in a defer code block, which cannot return control to an arbitrary point, but can only do clean-ups and tweak the function's return values. }}</ref> The {{code|lang=go|defer}} block itself functions similarly to a {{code|finally}} clause.
 
The [[Rust (programming language)|Rust]] language does not have exceptions. It instead uses {{code|lang=rust|Result<T, E>}} (a [[result type]]) for handling runtime errors, and for serious errors the {{code|lang=rust|panic!()}} macro is used.
 
==See also==