Question

What error handling should be used in VB.NET?

Should one use the “On Error Goto ErrorHandler ... Exit Sub ErrHandler ... End Sub” pattern or should you use the “try { ... } catch { ... } finally { ... }” pattern?

Answer 1

The most obvious reasons I can think of off the top of my head to steer clear of On Error GoTo... would have to be:

1. On Error GoTo does not discriminate between types of exceptions.
2. On Error GoTo does not provide as much structure as Try/Catch/Finally (e.g., nesting one Try/Catch block within another).
3. On Error GoTo has no counterpart to Finally (that I know of).

I’m sure in many cases, clever use of On Error GoTo could mimic the behavior that is built in to VB.NET’s Try/Catch/Finally feature. But what would be the point?