Exception header in C++ with examples
C++ provides a list of standard exceptions defined in header <exception> in namespace std where “exception” is the base class for all standard exceptions. All exceptions like bad_alloc, bad_cast, runtime_error, etc generated by the standard library inherit from std::exception. Therefore, all standard exceptions can be caught by reference.
Header File:
#include <exception>
Below are the errors are thrown in C++:
| Exceptions | Description |
|---|---|
| bad_alloc | thrown by new on allocation failure |
| bad_cast | thrown by dynamic_cast when it fails in a dynamic cast |
| bad_exeption | thrown by certain dynamic exception specifiers |
| bad_typeid | thrown by typeid |
| bad_function_call | thrown by empty function objects |
| bad_weak_ptr | thrown by shared_ptr when passed a bad weak_ptr |
| logic_error | error related to the internal logic of the program |
| runtime_error | error related to the internal logic of the program |
Below is the program to illustrate some of the errors in exception class in C++:
Program 1:
Below is the illustration of std::bad_alloc error:
using class bad_alloc
// C++ program to illustrate bad_alloc// using class bad_alloc#include <exception>#include <iostream>using namespace std; // Function to illustrate bad_allocvoid createArray(int N){ // Try Block try { // Create an array of length N int* array = new int[N]; // If created successfully then // print the message cout << "Array created successfully" << " of length " << N << " \n"; } // Check if the memory // was allocated or not // using class bad_alloc catch (bad_alloc& e) { // If not, print the error message cout << e.what() << " for array of length " << N << " \n"; }} // Driver Codeint main(){ // Function call to create an // array of 1000 size createArray(1000); // Function call to create an // array of 1000000000 size createArray(1000000000); return 0;} |
using class exception
// C++ program to illustrate bad_alloc// using class exception#include <exception>#include <iostream>using namespace std; // Function to illustrate bad_allocvoid createArray(int N){ // Try Block try { // Create an array of length N int* array = new int[N]; // If created successfully then // print the message cout << "Array created successfully" << " of length " << N << " \n"; } // Check if the memory // was allocated or not // using class exception catch (exception& e) { // If not, print the error message cout << e.what() << " for array of length " << N << " \n"; }} // Driver Codeint main(){ // Function call to create an // array of 1000 size createArray(1000); // Function call to create an // array of 1000000000 size createArray(1000000000); return 0;} |
Array created successfully of length 1000 std::bad_alloc for array of length 1000000000
Explanation:
- For creating an array of length 1000 the memory allocation was successful and there was no exception thrown for the same.
- For creating an array of length 1000 the memory allocation was not successful and the exception “std::bad_alloc” was thrown. The exception thrown is of type bad_alloc which is derived from the class exception. The function what() is a virtual function defined in the base class exception. The function what() returns a null terminated string which is generally a description of error.
Note: bad_alloc exception is thrown by operator “new” when memory allocation fails.
Why did we catch an exception by reference?
Catching an exception by value will call the copy constructor and create a copy of the exception which adds run-time overhead. Thus, catching by reference is a better option. If we want to modify exception or add some additional information to the error message then catching by reference is best for it. For this case:
catch (std::string str){ s += "Additional info"; throw;} |
The above program wants to catch the exception, add some information to it and re-throw it. But str is a call by value variable which gets changed locally in the function and when the function re-throw the exception then the original exception is passed.
Correct Code:
catch (std::string& s){ s += "Additional info"; throw;} |
Program 2:
Below is the program to illustrate the logic_error:
// C++ program to illustrate logic_error#include <exception>#include <iostream>using namespace std; // Function to find factorial of N and// throws error if occursvoid findFactorial(int N){ // Initialise variable by 1 int factorial = 1; // Check for errors try { // If N is less than zero then, // it shows errors as factorial // of negative number can't be // calculated if (N < 0) { // Exception object which // returns the message passed // to it throw invalid_argument( "negative not allowed"); } // Find factorial if no error occurs for (int i = N; i > 0; i--) { factorial *= i; } cout << "Factorial of " << N << " is " << factorial << endl; } // Print the error message catch (exception& e) { cout << e.what(); }} // Driver Codeint main(){ // Function call to find factorial // of 0 findFactorial(0); // Function call to find factorial // of 3 findFactorial(3); // Function call to find factorial // of -1 findFactorial(-1); return 0;} |
Factorial of 0 is 1 Factorial of 3 is 6 negative not allowed
