Exception Handling in Java

The exception handling in java is one of the powerful mechanism to handle the
runtime errors so that normal flow of the application can be maintained.

In this page, we will learn about java exception, its type and the difference between
checked and unchecked exceptions.

What is exception
Dictionary Meaning: Exception is an abnormal condition.

In java, 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 ClassNotFound, IO,
SQL, Remote etc.

Advantage of Exception Handling

The core advantage of exception handling is to maintain the normal flow of the
application. Exception normally disrupts the normal flow of the application that is why
we use exception handling. Let's take a scenario:

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1. statement 1;   
2. statement 2;   
3. statement 3;   
4. statement 4;   
5. statement 5;//exception occurs   
6. statement 6;   
7. statement 7;   
8. statement 8;   
9. statement 9;   
10. statement 10;  
Suppose there is 10 statements in your program and there occurs an exception at
statement 5, rest of the code will not be executed i.e. statement 6 to 10 will not run. If
we perform exception handling, rest of the statement will be executed. That is why we
use exception handling in java.

Do You Know ?
 What is the difference between checked and unchecked exceptions ?
 What happens behind the code int data=50/0; ?
 Why use multiple catch block ?
 Is there any possibility when finally block is not executed ?
 What is exception propagation ?
 What is the difference between throw and throws keyword ?

 What are the 4 rules for using exception handling with method overriding ?

Hierarchy of Java Exception classes

Types of Exception
There are mainly two types of exceptions: checked and unchecked where error is
considered as unchecked exception. The sun microsystem says there are three types of
exceptions:

1. Checked Exception
2. Unchecked Exception
3. Error

Difference between checked and unchecked

exceptions
1) Checked Exception
 The classes that extend Throwable class except RuntimeException and Error are known
as checked exceptions e.g.IOException, SQLException etc. Checked exceptions are
checked at compile-time.

2) Unchecked Exception

The classes that extend RuntimeException are known as unchecked exceptions e.g.
ArithmeticException, NullPointerException, ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException etc.
Unchecked exceptions are not checked at compile-time rather they are checked at
runtime.

3) Error

Error is irrecoverable e.g. OutOfMemoryError, VirtualMachineError, AssertionError etc.

Common scenarios where exceptions may occur

There are given some scenarios where unchecked exceptions can occur. They are as
follows:

1) Scenario where ArithmeticException occurs

If we divide any number by zero, there occurs an ArithmeticException.

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1. int a=50/0;//ArithmeticException  

2) Scenario where NullPointerException occurs

If we have null value in any variable, performing any operation by the variable occurs an
NullPointerException.

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1. String s=null;   
2. System.out.println(s.length());//NullPointerException  

3) Scenario where NumberFormatException occurs

The wrong formatting of any value, may occur NumberFormatException. Suppose I have
a string variable that have characters, converting this variable into digit will occur
NumberFormatException.

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1. String s="abc";   
2. int i=Integer.parseInt(s);//NumberFormatException  

String s="abc";

int i=Integer.parseInt(s);//NumberFormatException

4) Scenario where ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException occurs

If you are inserting any value in the wrong index, it would result
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException as shown below:

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1. int a[]=new int[5];   
2. a[10]=50; //ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException  

Java Exception Handling Keywords

There are 5 keywords used in java exception handling.
 1. try
2. catch
3. finally
4. throw
5. throws

Java try-catch

Java try block

Java try block is used to enclose the code that might throw an exception. It must be used
within the method.

Java try block must be followed by either catch or finally block.

Syntax of java try-catch

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1. try{   
2. //code that may throw exception   
3. }catch(Exception_class_Name ref){}  

Syntax of try-finally block

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1. try{   
2. //code that may throw exception   
3. }finally{}  

Java catch block

Java catch block is used to handle the Exception. It must be used after the try block
only.
 You can use multiple catch block with a single try.

Problem without exception handling

Let's try to understand the problem if we don't use try-catch block.

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1. public class Testtrycatch1{   
2.   public static void main(String args[]){   
3.       int data=50/0;//may throw exception   
4.       System.out.println("rest of the code...");   
5. }   
6. }  

Test it Now

Output:

Exception in thread main java.lang.ArithmeticException:/ by zero

As displayed in the above example, rest of the code is not executed (in such case, rest of
the code... statement is not printed).

There can be 100 lines of code after exception. So all the code after exception will not be
executed.

Solution by exception handling

Let's see the solution of above problem by java try-catch block.

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1. public class Testtrycatch2{   
2.   public static void main(String args[]){   
3.    try{   
4.       int data=50/0;   
5.    }catch(ArithmeticException e){System.out.println(e);}   
6.    System.out.println("rest of the code...");   
7. }   
8. }  

Test it Now

Output:

Exception in thread main java.lang.ArithmeticException:/ by zero

rest of the code...

Now, as displayed in the above example, rest of the code is executed i.e. rest of the
code... statement is printed.

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 exception is handled by the application programmer, normal flow of the application
is maintained i.e. rest of the code is executed.

Java Multi catch block

If you have to perform different tasks at the occurrence of different Exceptions, use java
multi catch block.

Let's see a simple example of java multi-catch block.

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1. public class TestMultipleCatchBlock{   
2.   public static void main(String args[]){   
3.    try{   
4.     int a[]=new int[5];   
5.     a[5]=30/0;   
6.    }   
7.    catch(ArithmeticException e){System.out.println("task1 is completed");}   
8.    catch(ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException e){System.out.println("task 2 completed
");}   
9.    catch(Exception e){System.out.println("common task completed");}   
10.   
11.    System.out.println("rest of the code...");   
12.  }   
13. }  

Java Nested try block

The try block within a try block is known as nested try block in java.

Why use nested try block

Sometimes a situation may arise where a part of a block may cause one error and the
entire block itself may cause another error. In such cases, exception handlers have to be
nested.

1. try  
2. {   
3.     statement 1;   
4.     statement 2;   
5.     try  
6.     {   
7.         statement 1;   
8.         statement 2;   
9.     }   
10.     catch(Exception e)   
11.     {   
12.     }   
13. }   
14. catch(Exception e)   
15. {   
16. }   
17. class Excep6{   
18.  public static void main(String args[]){   
19.   try{   
20.     try{   
21.      System.out.println("going to divide");   
22.      int b =39/0;   
23.     }catch(ArithmeticException e){System.out.println(e);}   
24.     
25.     try{   
26.     int a[]=new int[5];   
27.     a[5]=4;   
28.     }catch(ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException e){System.out.println(e);}   
29.       
30.     System.out.println("other statement);   
31.   }catch(Exception e){System.out.println("handeled");}   
32.   
33.   System.out.println("normal flow..");   
34.  }   
35. }  

Java finally block

Java finally block is a block that is used to execute important code such as closing
connection, stream etc.

Java finally block is always executed whether exception is handled or not.

Java finally block must be followed by try or catch block.

Note: If you don't handle exception, before terminating the program, JVM executes finally
block(if any).

Why use java finally

o Finally block in java can be used to put "cleanup" code such as closing a file,
closing connection etc.

Usage of Java finally

Let's see the different cases where java finally block can be used.
 Case 1

Let's see the java finally example where exception doesn't occur.

1. class TestFinallyBlock{   
2.   public static void main(String args[]){   
3.   try{   
4.    int data=25/5;   
5.    System.out.println(data);   
6.   }   
7.   catch(NullPointerException e){System.out.println(e);}   
8.   finally{System.out.println("finally block is always executed");}   
9.   System.out.println("rest of the code...");   
10.   }   
11. }  

Case 2

Let's see the java finally example where exception occurs and not handled

1. class TestFinallyBlock1{   
2.   public static void main(String args[]){   
3.   try{   
4.    int data=25/0;   
5.    System.out.println(data);   
6.   }   
7.   catch(NullPointerException e){System.out.println(e);}   
8.   finally{System.out.println("finally block is always executed");}   
9.   System.out.println("rest of the code...");   
10.   }   
11. }  

Case 3

Let's see the java finally example where exception occurs and handled.

1. public class TestFinallyBlock2{   
2.   public static void main(String args[]){   
3.   try{   
4.    int data=25/0;   
5.    System.out.println(data);   
6.   }   
7.   catch(ArithmeticException e){System.out.println(e);}   
8.   finally{System.out.println("finally block is always executed");}   
9.   System.out.println("rest of the code...");   
10.   }   
11. }  

Rule: For each try block there can be zero or more catch blocks, but only one finally block.
 Note: The finally block will not be executed if program exits(either by calling System.exit()
or by causing a fatal error that causes the process to abort).

Java throw keyword

The Java throw keyword is used to explicitly throw an exception.

We can throw either checked or uncheked exception in java by throw keyword. The
throw keyword is mainly used to throw custom exception. We will see custom exceptions
later.

The syntax of java throw keyword is given below.

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1. throw exception;  

Let's see the example of throw IOException.

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1. throw new IOException("sorry device error);  

java throw keyword example

In this example, we have created the validate method that takes integer value as a
parameter. If the age is less than 18, we are throwing the ArithmeticException otherwise
print a message welcome to vote.

1. public class TestThrow1{   
2.    static void validate(int age){   
3.      if(age<18)   
4.       throw new ArithmeticException("not valid");   
5.      else  
6.       System.out.println("welcome to vote");   
7.    }   
8.    public static void main(String args[]){   
9.       validate(13);   
10.       System.out.println("rest of the code...");   
11.   }   
12. }  

An exception is first thrown from the top of the stack and if it is not caught, it drops
down the call stack to the previous method,If not caught there, the exception again
drops down to the previous method, and so on until they are caught or until they reach
the very bottom of the call stack.This is called exception propagation.

13.Rule: By default Unchecked Exceptions are forwarded in calling chain (propagated).

14. class TestExceptionPropagation1{   
15.   void m(){   
16.     int data=50/0;   
17.   }   
18.   void n(){   
19.     m();   
20.   }   
21.   void p(){   
22.    try{   
23.     n();   
24.    }catch(Exception e){System.out.println("exception handled");}   
25.   }   
26.   public static void main(String args[]){   
27.    TestExceptionPropagation1 obj=new TestExceptionPropagation1();   
28.    obj.p();   
29.    System.out.println("normal flow...");   
30.   }   
31. }  

In the above example exception occurs in m() method where it is not handled,so it is
propagated to previous n() method where it is not handled, again it is propagated to
p() method where exception is handled.

Exception can be handled in any method in call stack either in main() method,p()
method,n() method or m() method.

32.Rule: By default, Checked Exceptions are not forwarded in calling chain (propagated).
Program which describes that checked exceptions are not propagated

1. class TestExceptionPropagation2{   
2.   void m(){   
3.     throw new java.io.IOException("device error");//checked exception   
4.   }   
5.   void n(){   
6.     m();   
7.   }   
8.   void p(){   
9.    try{   
10.     n();   
11.    }catch(Exception e){System.out.println("exception handeled");}   
12.   }   
13.   public static void main(String args[]){   
14.    TestExceptionPropagation2 obj=new TestExceptionPropagation2();   
15.    obj.p();   
16.    System.out.println("normal flow");   
17.   }   
18. }  

Java throws keyword

The Java throws keyword is used to declare an exception. It gives an information to
the programmer that there may occur an exception so it is better for the programmer to
provide the exception handling code so that normal flow can be maintained.

Exception Handling is mainly used to handle the checked exceptions. If there occurs any
unchecked exception such as NullPointerException, it is programmers fault that he is not
performing check up before the code being used.

Syntax of java throws

1. return_type method_name() throws exception_class_name{   
2. //method code   
3. }  
4. import java.io.IOException;   
5. class Testthrows1{   
6.   void m()throws IOException{   
7.     throw new IOException("device error");//checked exception   
8.   }   
9.   void n()throws IOException{   
10.     m();   
11.   }   
12.   void p(){   
13.    try{   
14.     n();   
15.    }catch(Exception e){System.out.println("exception handled");}   
16.   }   
17.   public static void main(String args[]){   
18.    Testthrows1 obj=new Testthrows1();   
19.    obj.p();   
20.    System.out.println("normal flow...");   
21.   }   
22. }  
 Java throws example
Let's see the example of java throws clause which describes that checked exceptions can
be propagated by throws keyword.

1. import java.io.IOException;   
2. class Testthrows1{   
3.   void m()throws IOException{   
4.     throw new IOException("device error");//checked exception   
5.   }   
6.   void n()throws IOException{   
7.     m();   
8.   }   
9.   void p(){   
10.    try{   
11.     n();   
12.    }catch(Exception e){System.out.println("exception handled");}   
13.   }   
14.   public static void main(String args[]){   
15.    Testthrows1 obj=new Testthrows1();   
16.    obj.p();   
17.    System.out.println("normal flow...");   
18.   }   
19. }  

Rule: If you are calling a method that declares an exception, you must either caught or declare the
exception.

There are two cases:

1. Case1:You caught the exception i.e. handle the exception using try/catch.

2. Case2:You declare the exception i.e. specifying throws with the method.

Case1: You handle the exception

 In case you handle the exception, the code will be executed fine whether
exception occurs during the program or not.
 import java.io.*;   
 class M{   
  void method()throws IOException{   
   throw new IOException("device error");   
  }   
 }   
 public class Testthrows2{   
    public static void main(String args[]){   
     try{   
      M m=new M();   
      m.method();   
     }catch(Exception e){System.out.println("exception handled");}      
   
      System.out.println("normal flow...");   
   }   
 }  

Case2: You declare the exception

 A)In case you declare the exception, if exception does not occur, the code will be
executed fine.
 B)In case you declare the exception if exception occures, an exception will be
thrown at runtime because throws does not handle the exception.

A)Program if exception does not occur

1. import java.io.*;   
2. class M{   
3.  void method()throws IOException{   
4.   System.out.println("device operation performed");   
5.  }   
6. }   
7. class Testthrows3{   
8.    public static void main(String args[])throws IOException{//declare exception   
9.      M m=new M();   
10.      m.method();   
11.   
12.     System.out.println("normal flow...");   
13.   }   
14. }  

B)Program if exception occurs

1. import java.io.*;   
2. class M{   
3.  void method()throws IOException{   
4.   throw new IOException("device error");   
5.  }   
6. }   
7. class Testthrows4{   
8.    public static void main(String args[])throws IOException{//declare exception   
9.      M m=new M();   
10.      m.method();   
11.   
12.     System.out.println("normal flow...");   
13.   }   
14. }  

Difference between throw and throws in Java

19. There are many differences between throw and throws keywords. A list of differences between
throw and throws are given below:

No. throw throws

1 Java throw keyword is used to Java throws keyword is used to declare

) explicitly throw an exception. an exception.

2 Checked exception cannot be Checked exception can be propagated

) propagated using throw only. with throws.

3 Throw is followed by an instance. Throws is followed by class.

)

4 Throw is used within the method. Throws is used with the method
) signature.

5 You cannot throw multiple You can declare multiple exceptions e.g.
) exceptions. public void method()throws
IOException,SQLException