Effective Java, 2nd Edition

Chapter 9Exceptions

WHEN used to best advantage, exceptions can improve a program's readability, reliability, and maintainability. When used improperly, they can have the opposite effect. This chapter provides guidelines for using exceptions effectively.

Item 57: Use exceptions only for exceptional conditions

Someday, if you are unlucky, you may stumble across a piece of code that looks something like this:

// Horrible abuse of exceptions. Don't ever do this!try {    int i = 0;    while(true)        range[i++].climb();} catch(ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException e) {}

What does this code do? It's not at all obvious from inspection, and that's reason enough not to use it (Item 55). It turns out to be a horribly ill-conceived idiom for looping through ...