100 Java Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

5 Common exceptions

This chapter covers

• Ways to avoid NullPointerException in Java programs
• Which mistakes cause IndexOutOfBoundsExceptions
• Different reasons for ClassCastException
• Finite and infinite recursion in Java

In this chapter, we discuss some of the most common exceptions in Java programs caused by bugs. This chapter differs somewhat from the others, as we will concentrate on the effects of the bugs, rather than their causes.

All the exception classes in Java inherit a single Throwable class. Any exception can be thrown explicitly via a throw statement. Some exceptions can be thrown by the virtual machine itself. Here, we will mainly speak about such exceptions. Figure 5.1 shows the hierarchy of exceptions covered in this chapter. ...