What is a try-except block in python?
A try and except block is used for error handling in Python.
Try: Helps to test the code. If the code inside the try block is error free it is executed. Otherwise the error gets caught and control goes to the except block.Except: Except displays the error message.Else: Executes if there is no error in the code in the try block.Finally: Executes independently of the try-except block results.
The Else and Finally block are optional but it is considered a good programming practice to include them.
Type of error messages
There are two types of error that can occur:
- Syntax Error/Parsing Error: When the Python parser is unable to understand a line of code.
- Exception: When the error is detected during execution, e.g.,ZeroDivisionError.
List of exception errors
The following are the list of exception error that arises:
- IOError: When a file can’t be opened
- KeyboardInterrupt: When an unrequired key is pressed by the user
- ValueError :When a built-in function receives a wrong argument
- EOFError :When one of the built-in functions (input() or raw_input()) hits an end-of-file condition (EOF) without reading any data
- ImportError: When a module is not found
Syntax
The general syntax is:
try:
statement1 #test code
except:
statement2 #error message
finally:
statement3 #must execute
Examples
1. Try and except block only
The following code explains how error gets caught in the try block and gets printed in the except block:
try:print(variable)except:print("Variable is not defined")
2. Try with multiple except blocks
If multiple errors may arise after the execution of one try block, we may use multiple except blocks to handle them.
Note: It is compulsory that the keyword
NameErroris written in front of the first except statement.
try:print(variable)except NameError:print("Variable is not defined")except:print("Seeems like something else went wrong")
3. Try, except, and else block
The following code explains how else block gets executed when the try executed correctly:
try:variable="Python Programming";print(variable)except:print("An exception occurred")else:print("Else executes: Try block executed correctly")
4. Try, except, and finally block
The following code explains how error gets caught in the try block and gets printed in the except block and then the finally block gets executed:
try:print(variable)except:print("An exception occurred")finally:print("Always execute this block")
