Question

i am reading this page http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/exceptions.html it says if i write function() throw(); no exceptions can be thrown in that function. I tried in msvc 2005 writing throw(), throw(int), throw() and nothing at all. each had the exact same results. Nothing. I threw int, char*, another type and it was all caught the same way. It looks like throw doesnt affect it at all. What does function() throw() actually do?

Answer 1

See this article for details on C++ exception specifications and Microsoft’s implementation:

Microsoft Visual C++ 7.1 ignores exception specifications unless they are empty. Empty exception specifications are equivalent to __declspec(nothrow), and they can help the compiler to reduce code size.

[…] If it sees an empty exception specification, it will assume you know what you are doing and optimize away the mechanics for dealing with exceptions. If your function throws anyway – well, shame on you. Use this feature only if you are 100% positive your function does not throw and never will.