Towards a context dependent Java exceptions hierarchy

Abstract

The role of exceptions is crucial for the robustness of modern applications and critical systems. Despite this, there is a long debate among researchers, programming language designers, and practitioners regarding the usefulness and appropriateness of the available exception types and their classification. In this paper, we examine Java exceptions and propose a new class hierarchy and compile-time mechanisms that take into account the context in which exceptions can arise. We believe that the increased specificity of exception handling based on our proposal can boost its effectiveness and lead to fewer application failures.