Issues with exception handling in object-oriented systems

The goals of exception handling mechanisms are to make programs more reliable and robust. The integration of exception handling mechanisms with object-oriented languages raises some unique issues. The requirements of exception handling often conflict with some of the goals of object-oriented designs, such as supporting design evolution, functional specialization, and abstraction for implementation transparency. This paper demonstrates these conflicts, illustrates that the use of exception handling in object-oriented systems poses potential pitfalls, and suggests that their resolution is one of the first steps necessary to make exception handling robust in object-oriented designs and languages.