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Asked: 2026-06-13T14:47:42+00:00

I have a few functions on Data access layer public Order RetrieveById(int id) public

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I have a few functions on Data access layer

public Order RetrieveById(int id)
public List<Order> RetrieveByStatus(OrderStatus status)

Now i am bit confuse on exception raising.

In case of RetrieveById function, id which is less than 1 is an invalid id therefore i feel like raising an exception. And i feel like returning null for the Id which doesn’t exist in the database. Then it feels like i am over complicating.

In case of RetrieveByStatus, i feel like returning a empty list when there is no data in the database for that status.

However i have seen that some people raising an exception when RetrieveById cannot return anything but then RetrieveByStatus should not raise exception when there is no record or should it?

Could anyone please clarify these concepts for me?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    In the first case i would possibly go for a exception and handle myself,instead of returning null.What if your first method is used in a way that the returned object is saved to a Order reference.There is a very high chance of NullReferenceException being thrown,when someone tries to call a method or property on that object.

    For the second method i would go for a empty list as some have suggested.

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