Question

Does the using catch the exception or throw it? i.e.

using (StreamReader rdr = File.OpenText('file.txt')) {  //do stuff } 

If the streamreader throws an exception is it caught by using or thrown so the calling function can handle it?

Answer 1

using statements do not eat exceptions.

All ‘Using’ does is scope your object to the using block, and automatically calls Dispose() on the object when it leaves the block.

There is a gotcha though, if a thread is forcefully aborted by an outside source, it is possible that Dispose will never be called.