Catching Errors 

• So once an error object is thrown, there must be some object out there ready to catch it and process it. Unlike throwing errors, however, catching errors takes a bit more consideration. 
• Specifically, you must use "try-catch" blocks to insulate the greater program from errors in methods. Try-catch blocks work like this. Your program tries to perform some method that has the potential to cause an error. If it succeedes, great. If not, it uses a catch statement block to perform error handling. Generically, it looks something like the following: 

try
  {
  some code that may throw an
       error object;
  }
catch (ExceptionType e)
  {
  Deal with the exception object
       that we have named "e";
  }

• Thus, if an error object is thrown from the try block, it will be handled in the catch block. Thus, any method that might throw an error must be contained within a try-catch block and the catch block must be prepared to handle the error objects that might be thrown. 
• If multiple error objects are thrown, the catch block must deal with each individually such as in the case below: 

try
  {
  some code that may throw an
       error object;
  }
catch (MalformedURLException e)
  {
  Deal with the problematic URL;
  }

catch (IOException e)
  {
  Deal with the IO exception;
  }

• Typically, your catch block will contain code to warn the user that they need to enter their data in some other format or that the request they have is unacceptable. However, it can also be used to gracefully exit the program and print an error log for you to use later. 
• Finally, Java provides the "finally" clause that executes whether or not an exception is caught. This is particularly useful for cleanup operations in case of serious errors. 

try
  {
  some code that may throw an
       error object;
  }
catch (MalformedURLException e)
  {
  Deal with the problematic URL;
  }

finally
  {
  always executed;
  }

Additional Resources:

• Learning to Write Java 
• Introducing Java (TM) - Your First Applet 
• Java FAQs 
• Java Software 
• java.sun.com 
• Sun Microsystems

Throwing Errors
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