Re: errors vs. exceptions

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From: Godmar Back (gback@cs.utah.edu)
Date: Tue Dec 08 1998 - 15:55:50 EST


>
> Godmar Back writes:
> > Many API functions say they return null or raise a specific exception
> > (not error) if they fail. For instance, Class.forName() says it will
> > raise a ClassNotFoundException if a class is not found.
> >
> > In practice, however, Class.forName may raise a NoClassDefFoundError
> > (in Sun's implementation.) It appears they simply propagate the failure
> > through, just as we do now. This makes sense, as it gives the user
> > the greatest possible amount of information.
>
> I think no matter what we decide to do, it's important to file any
> discrepancies between documentation and behavior in the JDK as bugs
> on the JDK developers page (you can login to this page without being
> 'tainted'). That way, the documentation (and hence kaffe's compatibility)
> gets tighter.
>

 But see, it's not really a discrepancy: API functions can always raise
errors or runtime exceptions. It's a judgement call as to which (real)
errors to guard against and to turn into exceptions/errors.

I guess we could file a bug report that says this stuff is "underspecified".

        - Godmar


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