1. Exception Handling Strategies
2. Exception Handling Strategy - Overview
3. Exception Handling Requirements
4. Application Survival
5. Notifying Relevant Parties
6. Error Diagnostics and Reproduction
7. Separation of Abstraction Layers
8. More Readable and Maintainable Code
9. Error Location and Context
10. Error Causes, Types and Reactions
11. Strategy Elements
12. Error Detection
13. Error Information Gathering
14. Throwing Exceptions
15. Propagating Exceptions
16. Catching Exceptions
17. An Exception Handling Strategy Template
18. An Exception Class Template
19. Throwing the AppException
20. Propagating the AppException
21. The ErrorInfo List
22. Catching the AppException
23. Avoid Exception Hierarchies

The purpose of an effective exception handling strategy can be grouped into a set of primary and secondary purposes, or requirements as we like to call them in software development. The requirements state what should happen if an exception (error) occurs in an application.

The primary requirements are the most important to meet with your exception handling strategy. The secondary requirements are not nearly as important, but it is still a good idea to take these into consideration, if you have the time and opportunity in your project.

Primary Requirements

The primary requirements of an effective exception handling strategy are:

1. The application survives the exception and can continue to process events, requests, files etc. Or, the application shuts down gracefully.
2. The relevant parties are notified. These parties include:
   • End users
   • System operators and administrators
   • Developers
   • Customers / owners of the application
3. The exception / error can be diagnosed and reproduced, so it can be corrected.

Secondary Requirements

The secondary goals of an effective exception handling strategy are:

1. Encapsulation / Separation of abstraction layers.
2. More readable, maintainable code.

Both primary and secondary requirements are explained in more detail in the following texts.