SCD CHAPTER 6

1. Exception Handling and Error Management

Exception handling and error management are critical to building robust and resilient software
applications. It involves capturing, responding to, and managing errors (exceptional conditions)
that occur during the execution of a program to ensure that the software can continue to operate
or fail gracefully.

1.1. What is an Exception?

●​ An exception is an event that occurs during the execution of a program that disrupts its
normal flow.
●​ It is typically a runtime error that can occur due to various reasons, such as:
o​ Invalid input
o​ Network failures
o​ Resource unavailability
o​ Programming errors (e.g., division by zero)

1.2. Types of Errors

1.​ Syntax Errors: Occur due to incorrect code structure, such as missing semicolons,
braces, or incorrect keywords.
2.​ Runtime Errors: Occur during the execution of the program. These include:
o​ Checked Exceptions (e.g., FileNotFoundException): Must be handled explicitly
by the programmer.
o​ Unchecked Exceptions (e.g., NullPointerException): Can be caught but are not
required to be handled.
3.​ Logical Errors: Occur when the code doesn't behave as expected, often due to incorrect
logic.

1.3. Exception Handling Mechanism

Programming languages like Java, Python, and C# provide structured mechanisms for handling
exceptions:

●​ try: A block of code where exceptions might occur.

●​ catch (or except in Python): A block where exceptions are handled.
●​ finally: A block that runs regardless of whether an exception occurred, used for cleanup
operations (e.g., closing files, releasing resources).
●​ throw: Used to manually throw exceptions.

Example in Python:

python
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try:
 # Code that may throw an exception
result = 10 / 0
except ZeroDivisionError as e:
print(f"Error: {e}")
finally:
print("This will always execute.")

Example in Java:

java
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try {
int result = 10 / 0;
} catch (ArithmeticException e) {
System.out.println("Cannot divide by zero: " + e);
} finally {
System.out.println("This will always execute.");
}

2. Best Practices for Exception Handling

2.1. Use Specific Exceptions

●​ Catch specific exceptions rather than generic ones. This makes debugging easier and
ensures that only anticipated errors are caught.

Bad Practice:

java
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try {
// Some code
} catch (Exception e) {
// Catching a generic exception
}

Good Practice:

java
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try {
// Some code
} catch (IOException e) {
// Handling IO-specific exceptions
}

2.2. Avoid Silent Failures

●​ Do not catch exceptions without proper handling or logging. This can make debugging
difficult.
Bad Practice:

python
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try:
# Some code
except Exception:
pass # Silently ignores the error

Good Practice:

python
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try:
# Some code
except ValueError as e:
print(f"ValueError: {e}") # Properly handling or logging the error

2.3. Use finally for Cleanup

●​ Always use the finally block for cleanup operations (e.g., closing files, releasing
network connections).

2.4. Throw Early, Catch Late

●​ Throw exceptions as early as possible when a condition is detected but catch them only
where you can handle them meaningfully. This is known as the "fail fast" principle.

2.5. Avoid Overuse of Exceptions

●​ Exceptions should be used for exceptional conditions, not for regular control flow.

Bad Practice:

python
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try:
result = int(input("Enter a number: "))
except:
print("That wasn't a number.") # Not ideal for normal validation

Good Practice:

python
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user_input = input("Enter a number: ")
if user_input.isdigit():
result = int(user_input)
else:
print("That wasn't a number.")
2.6. Use Custom Exceptions

●​ Define custom exception classes when specific scenarios arise that are not covered by
built-in exceptions. This improves readability and debugging.

java
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class CustomException extends Exception {
public CustomException(String message) {
super(message);
}
}

throw new CustomException("This is a custom exception message.");

2.7. Document Exception Behavior

●​ Always document what exceptions a method can throw in your code documentation (e.g.,
Javadoc, docstrings).

3. Error Monitoring and Logging Techniques

Effective error monitoring and logging are essential for detecting, diagnosing, and fixing issues
in production environments.

3.1. Importance of Logging

●​ Logging helps in tracking the execution flow of an application and diagnosing problems.
●​ Logs are crucial for post-mortem analysis, especially in production environments where
direct debugging is impossible.

3.2. Logging Best Practices

1.​ Log at Appropriate Levels:

o​ Use appropriate logging levels based on the severity of the event:
▪​ DEBUG: Detailed information, typically of interest only during
debugging.
▪​ INFO: General information about the application's operation.
▪​ WARN: Potentially harmful situations.
▪​ ERROR: Error events that might allow the application to continue
running.
▪​ FATAL: Severe errors leading to application termination.
2.​ Avoid Logging Sensitive Information:
o​ Be cautious about logging sensitive data like passwords, credit card numbers, or
personally identifiable information (PII).
3.​ Use Structured Logging:
 o​Use structured logging formats (e.g., JSON, XML) for easier searching and
parsing by logging systems (e.g., ELK stack, Splunk).
4.​ Use Correlation IDs:
o​ Log correlation IDs (unique identifiers for requests) to track the flow of a specific
request across multiple services or layers in a distributed system.
5.​ Configure Log Rotation:
o​ Ensure that log files are rotated and archived to prevent uncontrolled growth and
potential disk space exhaustion.

3.3. Error Monitoring Tools

●​ Automated monitoring tools can detect errors, report them, and provide insights into their
frequency and impact.

Popular Monitoring Tools:

1.​ Sentry: Real-time error tracking for various programming languages, providing detailed
error reports and context.
2.​ New Relic: Offers performance monitoring and error tracking across various services and
applications.
3.​ Datadog: Monitors applications, infrastructure, and logs in real-time with error reporting
features.
4.​ Loggly: A cloud-based log management and error tracking system that aggregates logs
from various services.

3.4. Alerts and Dashboards

●​ Use automated alerting systems to notify developers when critical exceptions or

performance bottlenecks occur.
●​ Implement dashboards that track metrics such as:
o​ Error rate
o​ Time to resolution (TTR)
o​ Severity levels
o​ Application performance under various error conditions

3.5. Performance Impact of Logging

●​ Minimize logging in performance-critical sections of code to avoid bottlenecks,

especially when dealing with high-traffic applications.

3.6. Use of Centralized Logging

●​ Centralized logging solutions aggregate logs from multiple sources (servers, applications)
into one system for analysis.

Popular centralized logging solutions include:

●​ ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana)
●​ Graylog
●​ Fluentd