CloneNotSupportedException in Java with Examples

In Java, the CloneNotSupportedException is an exception that indicates that an attempt to clone an object has failed because the object does not implement the Cloneable interface. The Cloneable interface is a marker interface that indicates that an object can be cloned. When an object not implementing Cloneable is cloned, Java throws the CloneNotSupportedException.

Hierarchy:

Here is the hierarchy of the CloneNotSupportedException class:

java.lang.Object
      ↓
java.lang.Throwable
      ↓
java.lang.Exception
      ↓
java.lang.CloneNotSupportedException

As you can see from the hierarchy, the CloneNotSupportedException extends the Exception class, which in turn extends the Throwable class. A Java program can catch and handle the CloneNotSupportedException, an exception type.

A try-catch block can be used to handle this Exception, or it can be specified to be thrown in the method's signature using the throws keyword.

Syntax:

The syntax of CloneNotSupportedException in Java is:

Example of CloneNotSupportedException :

Filename: Dog.java

// Java program to demonstrate CloneNotSupportedException

class Dog implements Cloneable {

private String breed;
private int age;

public Dog(String breed, int age) {
    this.breed = breed;
    this.age = age;
}

// toString method to print the dog details
@Override
public String toString() {
    return "Dog [Breed=" + breed + ", Age=" + age + "]";
}

// Clone method to support cloning of Dog object
@Override
protected Object clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException {
    throw new CloneNotSupportedException("Cloning not supported for class Dog.");
}
}

public class CloneNotSupportedExceptionDemo {

public static void main(String[] args) {

    // Creating an instance of the Dog class
    Dog dog1 = new Dog("Labrador Retriever", 3);
    System.out.println(dog1);

    try {
        // Cloning the Dog object
        Dog dog2 = (Dog) dog1.clone();
        System.out.println(dog2);
    } catch (CloneNotSupportedException e) {
        // Catching and printing the CloneNotSupportedException
        System.out.println("Cloning not supported: " + e.getMessage());
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}
}

Output:

Dog [Breed=Labrador Retriever, Age=3]
Cloning not supported: Cloning not supported for class Dog.

java.lang.CloneNotSupportedException: Cloning not supported for class Dog.
	at Dog.clone(CloneNotSupportedExceptionDemo.java:22)
	at CloneNotSupportedExceptionDemo.main(CloneNotSupportedExceptionDemo.java:36)

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