finally block does not execute if exception is thrown

Question

finally block would execute if an exception is thrown in try block here:

public class ExceptionTest{
public static void main(String args[])
 {
  System.out.println(print());
 }
 
 public static int  print()
 {
  try
  {
   throw new NullPointerException();
   
  }
  finally
  {
   System.out.println("Executing finally block"); 
   
  }
 }
 }

output:

Executing finally block
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
    at ExceptionTest.print(ExceptionTest.java:11)
    at ExceptionTest.main(ExceptionTest.java:4)

In the other hand finally won't be called in this code right here:

public class ExceptionTest{
public static void main(String args[])
 {
  System.out.println(print());
 }
 
 public static int  print()
 {
  try
  {
   throw new Exception();
   
  }
  finally
  {
   System.out.println("Executing finally block"); 
   
  }
 }
 }

output:

ExceptionTest.java:11: error: unreported exception Exception; must be caught or declared to be thrown
   throw new Exception();
   ^
1 error

why it is cool with NullPointerException class but it complains when it comes to Exception class?

Right the finally block won't run if the entire program won't run — Joni, Jul 08 '20 at 17:29
@luk2302 when I started study about finally block I read " The finally block always executes when the try block exits. So you can use finally without catch but you must use try." https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17314724/is-it-valid-to-have-finally-block-without-try-and-catchI thought this's possibe for all kinds of exception. — Amani, Jul 08 '20 at 18:45
Your code does not run at all, it does not even *compile*. The statement about `finally` remains true but simply does not apply to your situation since there is nothing running in the first place. — luk2302, Jul 08 '20 at 18:46

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 08 '20 at 17:42

0

NullPointerException is an unchecked exception. Check this guide.

Here is an example of a try and catch block which catches everything:

try {
    //Do Something
    }
 
catch (Exception e) {
      System.out.println("Something went wrong.");
    } 

finally {
      System.out.println("The 'try catch' is finished.");
    }

answered Jul 08 '20 at 17:42

AztecCodes

1,130
7
23

1

It does not catch *everything*, it does not catch `Error`s or other `Throwable`s. – luk2302 Jul 08 '20 at 18:53

finally block does not execute if exception is thrown

1 Answers1