C++ Versus Java: Exception Handling

• Exceptions can be primitive types or objects in C++, e.g.,

  try
  {
     if( divisor == 0 )
        throw divisor;
  } catch( int exception )
  {
  
  }
  

  In Java, exceptions are always objects of Throwable class
• C++ has catch all:

  try
  {
     ...
  } catch( ... ) // catch all - default catch
  {
  
  }
  

  The equivalent in Java is to catch an object of Exception class
• Java provides finally block that is always executed after try-catch. C++ does not.

  try
  {
     ...
  }catch( Exception exception )  // Equivalent to catch all
  {
     ...
  }
  finally
  {
     // House-keeping / cleanup - block always executed
  }
  

• In C++, throw is used to throw as well as pass along an exception from one function to another. In Java, the keyword used by a function to pass along an exception is throws
• In C++, all exceptions are unchecked. In Java, exceptions can be checked or unchecked:
  • Checked exceptions must be explicitly caught. They extend Exception class.
  • Unchecked exceptions do not have to be caught. They extend RuntimeException class.