[dfkf]

Huh, author even uses exceptions as a part of normal workflow, instead of checking if "previousVersions" list is empty before calling Min on it he instead catches InvalidOperationException. I don't want it to look like an ad hominem argument, but... Anyway, C# authors had Java in sight when designing the language and after some contemplation they didn't include checked exceptions in the language. And their main argument is that in the vast majority of cases ignoring the exception and allowing it to propagate further up the stack is exactly what you want to do, simply because there is nothing you can do about it but to log it and tear down the entire object graph or write an error message to the user.

[stinos]

> propagate further up the stack is exactly what you want to do

This is an important point imo. It is actually one of the ways you can describe to a non-programmer why it can be so hard to write typcial desktop software which never ever crashes (as in 'unhandled exception' dialog): huge amounts of time would be wasted to figure out for each and every single statement what can go wrong and how to handle it. Seriously, I've been at meetings where more time was spent on discussion on how to deal with/present to the user some obscure once-in-a-lifetime error than on actually fullfilling requirements.

[wvenable]

I have a desktop app that has a single exception handler at the event loop. It's amazingly robust. That file you're trying to save is locked? Network location went away? Doesn't matter. It displays the error in a dialog box (so you know what went wrong) and returns the user to the app. Whatever operation they were doing, they can just try again. Any cleanup is performed automatically and the application, without really any effort, is always in a stable state.

That's how exceptions are supposed to work. The wack-a-mole attempt at ensuring you "handle" every case is wrong.

The problem, in my opinion, is that most programmers have been so brain damaged by Java that anyone exposed to that way of programming can't see how exceptions are supposed to work. Java not only makes you try/catch/declare everything but also makes you use exceptions for non-exceptional operations. A perfect storm.