Exception Handling in Java
The Exception Handling in Java is one of the powerful mechanism to handle the runtime
errors so that the normal flow of the application can be maintained.
What is Exception in Java?
Dictionary Meaning: Exception is an abnormal condition.
In Java, an exception is an event that disrupts the normal flow of the program. It is an object
which is thrown at runtime.
What is Exception Handling?
Exception Handling is a mechanism to handle runtime errors such as ClassNotFoundException,
IOException, SQLException, RemoteException, etc.
Advantage of Exception Handling
The core advantage of exception handling is to maintain the normal flow of the
application.
An exception normally disrupts the normal flow of the application; that is why we need to
handle exceptions.
Let's consider a scenario:
statement 1;
statement 2;
statement 3;
statement 4;
statement 5;//exception occurs
statement 6;
statement 7;
statement 8;
statement 9;
statement 10;
Suppose there are 10 statements in a Java program and an exception occurs at statement 5;
the rest of the code will not be executed, i.e., statements 6 to 10 will not be executed.
However, when we perform exception handling, the rest of the statements will be executed.
That is why we use exception handling in Java.
1. Hierarchy of Java Exception classes:
The [Link] class is the root class of Java Exception hierarchy inherited by two
subclasses: Exception and Error.
The hierarchy of Java Exception classes is given below:
Types of Java Exceptions
There are three types of exceptions:
1. Checked Exception
2. Unchecked Exception
3. Error
2. Difference between Checked and Unchecked Exceptions
1) Checked Exception
Checked exceptions are checked at compile-time.
The classes that directly inherit the Throwable class except RuntimeException and Error
are known as checked exceptions.
For example, IOException, SQLException, etc.
2) Unchecked Exception
Unchecked exceptions are not checked at compile-time, but they are checked at runtime.
The classes that inherit the RuntimeException are known as unchecked exceptions.
For example, ArithmeticException, NullPointerException,
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException, etc.
3) Error
Error is irrecoverable.
Some example of errors are OutOfMemoryError, VirtualMachineError, AssertionError etc.
3. Java Exception Keywords
Java provides five keywords that are used to handle the exception.
try
The "try" keyword is used to specify a block where we should place an exception code. It
means we can't use try block alone. The try block must be followed by either catch or finally.
catch
The "catch" block is used to handle the exception. It must be preceded by try block which
means we can't use catch block alone. It can be followed by finally block later.
finally
The "finally" block is used to execute the necessary code of the program. It is executed
whether an exception is handled or not.
throw
The "throw" keyword is used to throw an exception.
throws
The "throws" keyword is used to declare exceptions. It specifies that there may occur an
exception in the method. It doesn't throw an exception. It is always used with method
signature.
Java Exception Handling Example
Let's see an example of Java Exception Handling in which we are using a try-catch statement
to handle the exception.
[Link]
public class JavaExceptionExample{
public static void main(String args[]){
try{
//code that may raise exception
int data=100/0;
[Link]("rest of the code...");
}
catch(ArithmeticException e)
{
[Link](e);
}
//rest code of the program
}
}
Output:
Exception in thread main [Link]:/ by zero
In the above example, 100/0 raises an ArithmeticException which is handled by a try-catch
block.
4. Common Scenarios of Java Exceptions
There are given some scenarios where unchecked exceptions may occur.
They are as follows:
1) A scenario where ArithmeticException occurs (ArithmeticException)
If we divide any number by zero, there occurs an ArithmeticException.
int a=50/0;//ArithmeticException
2) A scenario where NullPointerException occurs (NullPointerException)
If we have a null value in any variable, performing any operation on the variable throws a
NullPointerException.
String s=null;
[Link]([Link]());//NullPointerException
3) A scenario where NumberFormatException occurs (NumberFormatException)
If the formatting of any variable or number is mismatched, it may result into
NumberFormatException. Suppose we have a string variable that has characters; converting
this variable into digit will cause NumberFormatException.
String s="abc";
int i=[Link](s);//NumberFormatException
4) A scenario where ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException occurs (ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException)
When an array exceeds to it's size, the ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException occurs. there may
be other reasons to occur ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException. Consider the following
statements.
int a[]=new int[5];
a[10]=50; //ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException
5. Java try-catch block
Java try block
Java try block is used to enclose the code that might throw an exception. It must be used
within the method.
If an exception occurs at the particular statement in the try block, the rest of the block code
will not execute. So, it is recommended not to keep the code in try block that will not throw
an exception.
Java try block must be followed by either catch or finally block.
Syntax of Java try-catch
try{
//code that may throw an exception
}
catch(Exception_class_Name ref)
{
}
Syntax of try-finally block
try{
//code that may throw an exception
}
finally
{
}
Java catch block
Java catch block is used to handle the Exception by declaring the type of exception within the
parameter. The declared exception must be the parent class exception ( i.e., Exception) or the
generated exception type. However, the good approach is to declare the generated type of
exception.
The catch block must be used after the try block only. You can use multiple catch block with a
single try block.
5.1. Internal Working of Java try-catch block
The JVM firstly checks whether the exception is handled or not. If exception is not handled,
JVM provides a default exception handler that performs the following tasks:
Prints out exception description.
Prints the stack trace (Hierarchy of methods where the exception occurred).
Causes the program to terminate.
But if the application programmer handles the exception, the normal flow of the application is
maintained, i.e., rest of the code is executed.
Problem without exception handling
Let's try to understand the problem if we don't use a try-catch block.
Example 1
[Link]
public class TryCatchExample1 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int data=50/0; //may throw exception
[Link]("rest of the code");
}
}
Output:
Exception in thread "main" [Link]: / by zero
As displayed in the above example, the rest of the code is not executed (in such case, the rest
of the code statement is not printed).
There might be 100 lines of code after the exception. If the exception is not handled, all the
code below the exception won't be executed.
Solution by exception handling
Let's see the solution of the above problem by a java try-catch block.
Example 2
[Link]
public class TryCatchExample2 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try
{
int data=50/0; //may throw exception
}
//handling the exception
catch(ArithmeticException e)
{
[Link](e);
}
[Link]("rest of the code");
}
}
Output:
[Link]: / by zero
rest of the code
As displayed in the above example, the rest of the code is executed, i.e., the rest of the code
statement is printed.
Example 3
In this example, we also kept the code in a try block that will not throw an exception.
[Link]
public class TryCatchExample3 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try
{
int data=50/0; //may throw exception
// if exception occurs, the remaining statement will not exceute
[Link]("rest of the code");
}
// handling the exception
catch(ArithmeticException e)
{
[Link](e);
}
}
Output:
[Link]: / by zero
Here, we can see that if an exception occurs in the try block, the rest of the block code will not
execute.
Example 4
Let's see an example to print a custom message on exception.
[Link]
public class TryCatchExample5 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try
{
int data=50/0; //may throw exception
}
// handling the exception
catch(Exception e)
{
[Link]("Can't divided by zero");
}
}
}
Output:
Can't divided by zero
Example 5
Let's see an example to handle another unchecked exception.
[Link]
public class TryCatchExample9 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try
{
int arr[]= {1,3,5,7};
[Link](arr[10]); //may throw exception
}
// handling the array exception
catch(ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException e)
{
[Link](e);
}
[Link]("rest of the code");
}
}
Output:
[Link]: 10
rest of the code
