Exception handling is a programming construct that allows a program to handle unexpected or
exceptional situations that may occur during its execution. These exceptional situations are
often referred to as "exceptions."
Here's a breakdown of how exception handling works:
1. **Error Occurrence:**
An error or exceptional situation arises during the execution of a program. This could be due
to various reasons, such as invalid user input, file not found, or division by zero.
2. **Raising an Exception:**
When an error occurs, Python raises an exception. This means it interrupts the normal flow of
the program and looks for a block of code that can handle the specific type of exception.
3. **Exception Handling Blocks:**
In Python, there are three main blocks used for exception handling:
- **try:** This block encloses the code that might raise an exception. It's where you anticipate
potential exceptions.
- **except:** If an exception occurs within the "try" block, Python looks for an appropriate
"except" block to handle it. Each "except" block specifies the type of exception it can handle.
- **finally:** This block, if present, is executed regardless of whether an exception occurred or
not. It's typically used for clean-up code.
4. **Handling the Exception:**
If an exception occurs in the "try" block and there is a corresponding "except" block for that
type of exception, the code in the "except" block is executed. This block can include instructions
to recover from the exceptional situation or to gracefully exit the program.
5. **Optional "finally" Block:**
The "finally" block, if present, is executed no matter what, whether an exception occurred or
not. It's often used for tasks like releasing resources (e.g., closing files) that should be done
regardless of exceptions.
6. **Multiple "except" Blocks:**
You can have multiple "except" blocks to handle different types of exceptions. This allows you
to respond differently to different types of errors.
7. **Unhandled Exceptions:**
If an exception occurs and there's no corresponding "except" block to handle it, the program
will terminate, and Python will display a traceback indicating the type of exception and the
location where it occurred.
Here's an example in Python:
```python
try:
# Code that may raise an exception
result = 10 / 0
except ZeroDivisionError:
# Handling the specific exception (division by zero)
print("Error: Division by zero")
finally:
# Clean-up code (optional)
print("Execution complete")
```
In this example, a `ZeroDivisionError` is anticipated. When it occurs, the program jumps to the
corresponding `except` block, prints an error message, and then proceeds to the `finally` block
for any clean-up operations.
Exception handling is crucial for writing robust programs that can gracefully handle unexpected
situations, improving the overall reliability and user experience of the software.
