Exception handling is a critical aspect of writing robust and reliable code. It allows you to gracefully manage errors and unexpected situations during program execution. In Python, you can use try-except blocks to catch and handle exceptions.

Basic Structure

try:
    # Code that might raise an exception
    result = 10 / 0
except ZeroDivisionError:
    # Handle the specific exception
    print("⚠️ Division by zero is not allowed!")
finally:
    # Optional: Code that runs regardless of an exception
    print("✅ Operation completed.")

Common Exceptions

  • ZeroDivisionError: Occurs when dividing by zero
  • FileNotFoundError: Raised when a file is not found
  • ValueError: Happens when a function receives an argument of correct type but inappropriate value
  • IndexError: Triggered when accessing an index that is out of range

Best Practices

  1. Be specific with exceptions - Catch only the exceptions you expect
  2. Use finally for cleanup - Ensure resources are released properly
  3. Log errors instead of ignoring them - Use logging module for detailed error tracking
  4. Avoid bare except blocks - Never catch all exceptions with except:
exception_handling_flow

For deeper insights into error handling patterns, check our Python Error Handling Guide for advanced techniques and real-world examples.