Different Ways to Print Exception Messages in Java

In Java, there are three methods to print exception information. All of them are present in the Throwable class. Since Throwable is the base class for all exceptions and errors, we can use these three methods on any exception object. 

Methods to Print Exceptions in Java

There are three methods to print exception messages in Java. These are:

1. java.lang.Throwable.printStackTrace() method: 

By using this method, we will get the name(e.g., java.lang.ArithmeticException) and description(e.g., / by zero) of an exception separated by a colon, and the stack trace (wherein the code, that exception has occurred) in the next line. 

Syntax:

public void printStackTrace()

Java

// Java program to demonstrate
// printStackTrace method

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        try {
            int a = 20 / 0;
        }
        catch (Exception e) {
            // printStackTrace method
            // prints line numbers + call stack
            e.printStackTrace();

            // Prints what exception has been thrown
            System.out.println(e);
        }
    }
}

Runtime Exception: 

java.lang.ArithmeticException: / by zero
    at Test.main(Test.java:9)

Output:

java.lang.ArithmeticException: / by zero

2. toString() method: 

Using this method will only get the name and description of an exception. Note that this method is overridden in the Throwable class. 

Java

// Java program to demonstrate
// toString  method

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        try {
            int a = 20 / 0;
        }
        catch (Exception e) {
            // toString method
            System.out.println(e.toString());

            // OR
            // System.out.println(e);
        }
    }
}

Output

java.lang.ArithmeticException: / by zero

3. java.lang.Throwable.getMessage() method: 

Using this method, we will only get a description of an exception. 

Syntax:

public String getMessage()

Java

// Java program to demonstrate
// getMessage method

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        try {
            int a = 20 / 0;
        }
        catch (Exception e) {
            // getMessage method
            // Prints only the message of exception
            // and not the name of exception
            System.out.println(e.getMessage());

            // Prints what exception has been thrown
            // System.out.println(e);
        }
    }
}

Output

/ by zero