Java Catch Multiple Exceptions

Java Multi-catch block

A try block can be followed by one or more catch blocks. Each catch block must contain a different exception handler. So, if you have to perform different tasks at the occurrence of different exceptions, use java multi-catch block.

Points to remember

• At a time only one exception occurs and at a time only one catch block is executed.
• All catch blocks must be ordered from most specific to most general, i.e. catch for ArithmeticException must come before catch for Exception.

Flowchart of Multi-catch Block

Example 1

Let's see a simple example of java multi-catch block.

MultipleCatchBlock1.java

Output:

Arithmetic Exception occurs
rest of the code

Example 2

MultipleCatchBlock2.java

Output:

ArrayIndexOutOfBounds Exception occurs
rest of the code

In this example, try block contains two exceptions. But at a time only one exception occurs and its corresponding catch block is executed.

MultipleCatchBlock3.java

Output:

Arithmetic Exception occurs
rest of the code

Example 4

In this example, we generate NullPointerException, but didn't provide the corresponding exception type. In such case, the catch block containing the parent exception class Exception will invoked.

MultipleCatchBlock4.java

Output:

Parent Exception occurs
rest of the code

Example 5

Let's see an example, to handle the exception without maintaining the order of exceptions (i.e. from most specific to most general).

MultipleCatchBlock5.java

Output:

Compile-time error