Do you (really) write exception safe code?

Question

Exception handling (EH) seems to be the current standard, and by searching the web, I can not find any novel ideas or methods that try to improve or replace it (well, some variations exist, but nothing novel).

Though most people seem to ignore it or just accept it, EH has some huge drawbacks: exceptions are invisible to the code and it creates many, many possible exit points. Joel on software wrote an article about it. The comparison to goto fits perfect, it made me think again about EH.

I try to avoid EH and just use return values, callbacks or whatever fits the purpose. But when you have to write reliable code, you just can't ignore EH these days: It starts with the new, which may throw an exception, instead of just returning 0 (like in the old days). This makes about any line of C++ code vulnerable to an exception. And then more places in the C++ foundational code throw exceptions... std lib does it, and so on.

This feels like walking on shaky grounds.. So, now we are forced to take care about exceptions!

But its hard, its really hard. You have to learn to write exception safe code, and even if you have some experience with it, it will still be required to double check any single line of code to be safe! Or you start to put try/catch blocks everywhere, which clutters the code until it reaches a state of unreadability.

EH replaced the old clean deterministical approach (return values..), which had just a few but understandable and easily solveable drawbacks with an approach that creates many possible exit points in your code, and if you start writing code that catches exceptions (what you are forced to do at some point), then it even creates a multitude of paths through your code (code in the catch blocks, think about a server program where you need logging facilities other than std::cerr ..). EH has advantages, but that's not the point.

My actual questions:

• Do you really write exception safe code?
• Are you sure your last "production ready" code is exception safe?
• Can you even be sure, that it is?
• Do you know and/or actually use alternatives that work?

Answer 1

Your question makes an assertion, that "Writing exception-safe code is very hard". I will answer your questions first, and then, answer the hidden question behind them.

Answering questions

Do you really write exception safe code?

Of course, I do.

This is the reason Java lost a lot of its appeal to me as a C++ programmer (lack of RAII semantics), but I am digressing: This is a C++ question.

It is, in fact, necessary when you need to work with STL or Boost code. For example, C++ threads (boost::thread or std::thread) will throw an exception to exit gracefully.

Are you sure your last "production ready" code is exception safe?

Can you even be sure, that it is?

Writing exception-safe code is like writing bug-free code.

You can't be 100% sure your code is exception safe. But then, you strive for it, using well-known patterns, and avoiding well-known anti-patterns.

Do you know and/or actually use alternatives that work?

There are no viable alternatives in C++ (i.e. you'll need to revert back to C and avoid C++ libraries, as well as external surprises like Windows SEH).

Writing exception safe code

To write exception safe code, you must know first what level of exception safety each instruction you write is.

For example, a new can throw an exception, but assigning a built-in (e.g. an int, or a pointer) won't fail. A swap will never fail (don't ever write a throwing swap), a std::list::push_back can throw...

Exception guarantee

The first thing to understand is that you must be able to evaluate the exception guarantee offered by all of your functions:

1. none: Your code should never offer that. This code will leak everything, and break down at the very first exception thrown.
2. basic: This is the guarantee you must at the very least offer, that is, if an exception is thrown, no resources are leaked, and all objects are still whole
3. strong: The processing will either succeed, or throw an exception, but if it throws, then the data will be in the same state as if the processing had not started at all (this gives a transactional power to C++)
4. nothrow/nofail: The processing will succeed.

Example of code

The following code seems like correct C++, but in truth, offers the "none" guarantee, and thus, it is not correct:

void doSomething(T & t)
{
   if(std::numeric_limits<int>::max() > t.integer)  // 1.   nothrow/nofail
      t.integer += 1 ;                              // 1'.  nothrow/nofail
   X * x = new X() ;                // 2. basic : can throw with new and X constructor
   t.list.push_back(x) ;            // 3. strong : can throw
   x->doSomethingThatCanThrow() ;   // 4. basic : can throw
}

I write all my code with this kind of analysis in mind.

The lowest guarantee offered is basic, but then, the ordering of each instruction makes the whole function "none", because if 3. throws, x will leak.

The first thing to do would be to make the function "basic", that is putting x in a smart pointer until it is safely owned by the list:

void doSomething(T & t)
{
   if(std::numeric_limits<int>::max() > t.integer)  // 1.   nothrow/nofail
      t.integer += 1 ;                              // 1'.  nothrow/nofail
   std::auto_ptr<X> x(new X()) ;    // 2.  basic : can throw with new and X constructor
   X * px = x.get() ;               // 2'. nothrow/nofail
   t.list.push_back(px) ;           // 3.  strong : can throw
   x.release() ;                    // 3'. nothrow/nofail
   px->doSomethingThatCanThrow() ;  // 4.  basic : can throw
}

Now, our code offers a "basic" guarantee. Nothing will leak, and all objects will be in a correct state. But we could offer more, that is, the strong guarantee. This is where it can become costly, and this is why not all C++ code is strong. Let's try it:

void doSomething(T & t)
{
   // we create "x"
   std::auto_ptr<X> x(new X()) ;    // 1. basic : can throw with new and X constructor
   X * px = x.get() ;               // 2. nothrow/nofail
   px->doSomethingThatCanThrow() ;  // 3. basic : can throw

   // we copy the original container to avoid changing it
   T t2(t) ;                        // 4. strong : can throw with T copy-constructor

   // we put "x" in the copied container
   t2.list.push_back(px) ;          // 5. strong : can throw
   x.release() ;                    // 6. nothrow/nofail
   if(std::numeric_limits<int>::max() > t2.integer)  // 7.   nothrow/nofail
      t2.integer += 1 ;                              // 7'.  nothrow/nofail

   // we swap both containers
   t.swap(t2) ;                     // 8. nothrow/nofail
}

We re-ordered the operations, first creating and setting X to its right value. If any operation fails, then t is not modified, so, operation 1 to 3 can be considered "strong": If something throws, t is not modified, and X will not leak because it's owned by the smart pointer.

Then, we create a copy t2 of t, and work on this copy from operation 4 to 7. If something throws, t2 is modified, but then, t is still the original. We still offer the strong guarantee.

Then, we swap t and t2. Swap operations should be nothrow in C++, so let's hope the swap you wrote for T is nothrow (if it isn't, rewrite it so it is nothrow).

So, if we reach the end of the function, everything succeeded (No need of a return type) and t has its excepted value. If it fails, then t has still its original value.

Now, offering the strong guarantee could be quite costly, so don't strive to offer the strong guarantee to all your code, but if you can do it without a cost (and C++ inlining and other optimization could make all the code above costless), then do it. The function user will thank you for it.

Conclusion

It takes some habit to write exception-safe code. You'll need to evaluate the guarantee offered by each instruction you'll use, and then, you'll need to evaluate the guarantee offered by a list of instructions.

Of course, the C++ compiler won't back up the guarantee (in my code, I offer the guarantee as a @warning doxygen tag), which is kinda sad, but it should not stop you from trying to write exception-safe code.

Normal failure vs. bug

How can a programmer guarantee that a no-fail function will always succeed? After all, the function could have a bug.

This is true. The exception guarantees are supposed to be offered by bug-free code. But then, in any language, calling a function supposes the function is bug-free. No sane code protects itself against the possibility of it having a bug. Write code the best you can, and then, offer the guarantee with the supposition it is bug-free. And if there is a bug, correct it.

Exceptions are for exceptional processing failure, not for code bugs.

Last words

Now, the question is "Is this worth it ?".

Of course, it is. Having a "nothrow/no-fail" function knowing that the function won't fail is a great boon. The same can be said for a "strong" function, which enables you to write code with transactional semantics, like databases, with commit/rollback features, the commit being the normal execution of the code, throwing exceptions being the rollback.

Then, the "basic" is the very least guarantee you should offer. C++ is a very strong language there, with its scopes, enabling you to avoid any resource leaks (something a garbage collector would find it difficult to offer for the database, connection or file handles).

So, as far as I see it, it is worth it.

Edit 2010-01-29: About non-throwing swap

nobar made a comment that I believe, is quite relevant, because it is part of "how do you write exception safe code":

• [me] A swap will never fail (don't even write a throwing swap)
• [nobar] This is a good recommendation for custom-written swap() functions. It should be noted, however, that std::swap() can fail based on the operations that it uses internally

the default std::swap will make copies and assignments, which, for some objects, can throw. Thus, the default swap could throw, either used for your classes or even for STL classes. As far as the C++ standard is concerned, the swap operation for vector, deque, and list won't throw, whereas it could for map if the comparison functor can throw on copy construction (See The C++ Programming Language, Special Edition, appendix E, E.4.3.Swap).

Looking at Visual C++ 2008 implementation of the vector's swap, the vector's swap won't throw if the two vectors have the same allocator (i.e., the normal case), but will make copies if they have different allocators. And thus, I assume it could throw in this last case.

So, the original text still holds: Don't ever write a throwing swap, but nobar's comment must be remembered: Be sure the objects you're swapping have a non-throwing swap.

Edit 2011-11-06: Interesting article

Dave Abrahams, who gave us the basic/strong/nothrow guarantees, described in an article his experience about making the STL exception safe:

http://www.boost.org/community/exception_safety.html

Look at the 7th point (Automated testing for exception-safety), where he relies on automated unit testing to make sure every case is tested. I guess this part is an excellent answer to the question author's "Can you even be sure, that it is?".

Edit 2013-05-31: Comment from dionadar

t.integer += 1; is without the guarantee that overflow will not happen NOT exception safe, and in fact may technically invoke UB! (Signed overflow is UB: C++11 5/4 "If during the evaluation of an expression, the result is not mathematically defined or not in the range of representable values for its type, the behavior is undefined.") Note that unsigned integer do not overflow, but do their computations in an equivalence class modulo 2^#bits.

Dionadar is referring to the following line, which indeed has undefined behaviour.

   t.integer += 1 ;                 // 1. nothrow/nofail

The solution here is to verify if the integer is already at its max value (using std::numeric_limits<T>::max()) before doing the addition.

My error would go in the "Normal failure vs. bug" section, that is, a bug. It doesn't invalidate the reasoning, and it does not mean the exception-safe code is useless because impossible to attain. You can't protect yourself against the computer switching off, or compiler bugs, or even your bugs, or other errors. You can't attain perfection, but you can try to get as near as possible.

I corrected the code with Dionadar's comment in mind.

Answer 2

Writing exception-safe code in C++ is not so much about using lots of try { } catch { } blocks. It's about documenting what kind of guarantees your code provides.

I recommend reading Herb Sutter's Guru Of The Week series, in particular installments 59, 60 and 61.

To summarize, there are three levels of exception safety you can provide:

• Basic: When your code throws an exception, your code does not leak resources, and objects remain destructible.
• Strong: When your code throws an exception, it leaves the state of the application unchanged.
• No throw: Your code never throws exceptions.

Personally, I discovered these articles quite late, so much of my C++ code is definitely not exception-safe.

Answer 3

Some of us have been using exception for over 20 years. PL/I has them, for example. The premise that they are a new and dangerous technology seems questionable to me.

Answer 4

First of all (as Neil stated), SEH is Microsoft's Structured Exception Handling. It is similar to but not identical to exception processing in C++. In fact, you have to enable C++ Exception Handling if you want it in Visual Studio - the default behavior does not guarantee that local objects are destroyed in all cases! In either case, Exception Handling is not really harder it is just different.

Now for your actual questions.

Do you really write exception safe code?

Yes. I strive for exception safe code in all cases. I evangelize using RAII techniques for scoped access to resources (e.g., boost::shared_ptr for memory, boost::lock_guard for locking). In general, consistent usage of RAII and scope guarding techniques will make exception safe code much easier to write. The trick is to learn what exists and how to apply it.

Are you sure your last "production ready" code is exception safe?

No. It is as safe as it is. I can say that I haven't seen a process fault due to an exception in several years of 24/7 activity. I don't expect perfect code, just well-written code. In addition to providing exception safety, the techniques above guarantee correctness in a way that is near impossible to achieve with try/catch blocks. If you are catching everything in your top control scope (thread, process, etc.), then you can be sure that you will continue to run in the face of exceptions (most of the time). The same techniques will also help you continue to run correctly in the face of exceptions without try/catch blocks everywhere.

Can you even be sure that it is?

Yes. You can be sure by a thorough code audit but no one really does that do they? Regular code reviews and careful developers go a long way to getting there though.

Do you know and/or actually use alternatives that work?

I have tried a few variations over the years such as encoding states in the upper bits (ala HRESULTs) or that horrible setjmp() ... longjmp() hack. Both of these break down in practice though in completely different ways.

---

In the end, if you get into the habit of applying a few techniques and carefully thinking about where you can actually do something in response to an exception, you will end up with very readable code that is exception safe. You can sum this up by following these rules:

• You only want to see try/catch when you can do something about a specific exception
• You almost never want to see a raw new or delete in code
• Eschew std::sprintf, snprintf, and arrays in general - use std::ostringstream for formatting and replace arrays with std::vector and std::string
• When in doubt, look for functionality in Boost or STL before rolling your own

I can only recommend that you learn how to use exceptions properly and forget about result codes if you plan on writing in C++. If you want to avoid exceptions, you might want to consider writing in another language that either does not have them or makes them safe. If you want to really learn how to fully utilize C++, read a few books from Herb Sutter, Nicolai Josuttis, and Scott Meyers.

Answer 5

It is not possible to write exception-safe code under the assumption that "any line can throw". The design of exception-safe code relies critically on certain contracts/guarantees that you are supposed to expect, observe, follow and implement in your code. It is absolutely necessary to have code that is guaranteed to never throw. There are other kinds of exception guarantees out there.

In other words, creating exception-safe code is to a large degree a matter of program design not just a matter of plain coding.

Answer 6

• Do you really write exception safe code?

Well, I certainly intend to.

• Are you sure your last "production ready" code is exception safe?

I'm sure that my 24/7 servers built using exceptions run 24/7 and don't leak memory.

• Can you even be sure, that it is?

It's very difficult to be sure that any code is correct. Typically, one can only go by results

• Do you know and/or actually use alternatives that work?

No. Using exceptions is cleaner and easier than any of the alternatives I've used over the last 30 years in programming.

Answer 7

Leaving aside the confusion between SEH and C++ exceptions, you need to be aware that exceptions can be thrown at any time, and write your code with that in mind. The need for exception-safety is largely what drives the use of RAII, smart pointers, and other modern C++ techniques.

If you follow the well-established patterns, writing exception-safe code is not particularly hard, and in fact it's easier than writing code that handles error returns properly in all cases.

Answer 8

EH is good, generally. But C++'s implementation is not very friendly as it's really hard to tell how good your exception catching coverage is. Java for instance makes this easy, the compiler will tend to fail if you don't handle possible exceptions .

Answer 9

I really like working with Eclipse and Java though (new to Java), because it throws errors in the editor if you are missing an EH handler. That makes things a LOT harder to forget to handle an exception...

Plus, with the IDE tools, it adds the try / catch block or another catch block automatically.

Answer 10

Some of us prefer languages like Java which force us to declare all the exceptions thrown by methods, instead of making them invisible as in C++ and C#.

When done properly, exceptions are superior to error return codes, if for no other reason than you don't have to propagate failures up the call chain manually.

That being said, low-level API library programming should probably avoid exception handling, and stick to error return codes.

It's been my experience that it's difficult to write clean exception handling code in C++. I end up using new(nothrow) a lot.

Answer 11

I try my darned best to write exception-safe code, yes.

That means I take care to keep an eye on which lines can throw. Not everyone can, and it is critically important to keep that in mind. The key is really to think about, and design your code to satisfy, the exception guarantees defined in the standard.

Can this operation be written to provide the strong exception guarantee? Do I have to settle for the basic one? Which lines may throw exceptions, and how can I ensure that if they do, they don't corrupt the object?

Answer 12

• Do you really write exception safe code? [There's no such thing. Exceptions are a paper shield to errors unless you have a managed environment. This applies to first three questions.]

• Do you know and/or actually use alternatives that work? [Alternative to what? The problem here is people don't separate actual errors from normal program operation. If it's normal program operation (ie a file not found), it's not really error handling. If it's an actual error, there is no way to 'handle' it or it's not an actual error. Your goal here is to find out what went wrong and either stop the spreadsheet and log an error, restart the driver to your toaster, or just pray that the jetfighter can continue flying even when it's software is buggy and hope for the best.]

Answer 13

A lot (I would even say most) people do.

What's really important about exceptions, is that if you don't write any handling code - the result is perfectly safe and well-behaved. Too eager to panic, but safe.

You need to actively make mistakes in handlers to get something unsafe, and only catch(...){} will compare to ignoring error code.