Question

I am reading data off a socket using the following loop

InputStream in = getInputStream();
int retCode;

try {
  while( ( retCode = in.read()) > -1) {
    // do something
  }
  logger.info( "Done reading : Code " + retCode);
} catch( IOException ioe) {
  logger.warning( "IOException while reading : " + ioe.getMessage());
}

Sometimes connection gets dropped, which is expected, but the consequence is inconsistent.
I get an exception, or retCode==-1

Hence my question What determines exception vs return Code when reading a socket?

Answer 1

As @PeterLawrey rightly mentioned

if in.read() returns -1 – means the end of the stream is reached.

Exception in case on any unavailability of Stream / communication failure – depends on the Type of Exception thrown.

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