How do you find what exceptions a class can throw?

[Chris Green]

2QdxY4RzWzUUiLuE at potatochowder.com wrote:
> On 2020-12-20 at 16:02:53 +0000,
> Regarding "Re: How do you find what exceptions a class can throw?,"
> Chris Green <cl at isbd.net> wrote:
> 
> > Stefan Ram <ram at zedat.fu-berlin.de> wrote:
> > > Chris Green <cl at isbd.net> writes:
> > > >I am using poplib.POP3_SSL() and I want to know what exceptions can be
> > > >thrown when I instantiate it.  Presumably it inherits them because
> > > >there's nothing much in the documentation page for poplib.POP3_SSL().
> > > 
> > >   Both Java and C++ have tried to introduce a static
> > >   declaration of exceptions IIRC, but IIRC this was less
> > >   popular as it led to problems.
> > > 
> > >   Ultimately, it is not possible to tell what exceptions 
> > >   a call might throw. In such a case, it may help to explain
> > >   to the newsgroup why this information is needed.
> > > 
> > So that, as is always advised, I can catch the specific exception
> > being thrown!
> 
> To the point:  what are you going to do with it once you catch it?
> 
> Are you prepared to handle every exception individually, or are you
> fishing for exceptions that you think might be worth catching?
> 
> Remember, you get reporting (a traceback) and program cleanup and exit
> for free.  What will catching an exception *add* to the user experience?

If it's a timeout exception I'm going to delay a little while and then
try again.  The timeout is probably because the server is busy.

If it's not a timeout then I'll (as you suggest) leave it to terminate
the program and report the error.

-- 
Chris Green
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