Question

Just about every piece of example code everywhere omits error handling (because it ‘confuses the issue’ that the example code is addressing). My programming knowledge comes primarily from books and web sites, and you seldom see any error handling in use at all there, let alone good stuff.

Where are some places to see good examples of C++ error handling code? Specific books, specific open-source projects (preferably with the files and functions to look at), and specific web pages or sites will all be gratefully accepted.

Answer 1

Herb Sutter’s and Andrei Alexandrescu’s book C++ Coding Standards comes with a whole chapter on Error Handling and Exceptions including

• Assert liberally to document internal assumptions and invariants
• Establish a rational error handling policy, and follow it strictly
• Distinguish between errors and non-errors
• Design and write error-safe code
• Prefer to use exceptions to report errors
• Throw by value, catch by reference
• Report, handle, and translate errors appropriately
• Avoid exception specifications

Every topic also includes an example and I found it to be a very valuable resource.