C# 4.0 The Complete Reference

CHAPTER 13Exception Handling

An exception is an error that occurs at runtime. Using C#’s exception-handling subsystem, you can, in a structured and controlled manner, handle runtime errors. A principal advantage of exception handling is that it automates much of the error-handling code that previously had to be entered “by hand” into any large program. For example, in a computer language without exception handling, error codes must be returned when a method fails, and these values must be checked manually each time the method is called. This approach is both tedious and error-prone. Exception handling streamlines error-handling by allowing your program to define a block of code, called an exception handler, that is executed automatically when ...