AP Computer Science 37 Java Exception Handling Tutorial

Purpose of this self-study booklet series AP Computer Science 37 Java Exception Handling Tutorial is to present AP Computer Science Java Subset syllabus material using small length topics (units) suitable to be readable using e-reader Amazon.com Kindle Fire.

Following document available on the College Board AP web site has the exception handling syllabus topics listed:

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap-computer-science-course-description.pdf

The AP Computer Science A course description Effective Fall 2010 pdf file has:
On pages 56 through 64, Appendix A: AP Computer Science Java Subset
On page 61, exception handling topic #37 as quoted below:

37. Students are expected to understand the exceptions that occur when
their programs contain errors (in particular, NullPointerException,
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException, ArithmeticException,
ClassCastException, IllegalArgumentException).

Checked exceptions are not in the subset.

In particular, the try/catch/finally statements and the throws modifier are not in the subset.


Please Note:
The try-catch-finally, throws constructs are NOT part of the AP Computer Science syllabus. We are discussing these constructs in this booklet, for the purpose of understanding of Java programs with exceptions handling relative to the programs without exceptions. Once you read this tutorial and understood the differences between the programs that use the try-catch-finally, throws constructs and the programs that do not use try-catch-finally, throws constructs, you can work with the programs that do not have the try-catch-finally, throws constructs during the preparation for the AP exam.

Checked exceptions are NOT part of the AP Computer Science syllabus. We are discussing checked exceptions in this booklet, for the purpose of understanding unchecked exceptions relative to the checked exceptions. Once you read this tutorial and understood the differences between the checked and unchecked exceptions, you can ignore the checked exceptions for the AP exam.

Following are the subtopics of the exception handling discussed in this booklet:
a.Meaning/definition of exception
b.Examples of exceptional events
c.Benefits of exception handling
d.Kinds of exceptions
e.Reason for occurrence of exceptions
f.Understanding the differences among the checked exceptions, runtime exceptions and errors
g.Creating a try-catch block
h.Understanding how exceptions alter regular program flow
i.Understanding the purpose of Java exceptions
j.Recognizing and using common unchecked exception classes and categories
k.Explicit throw versus implicit throw
l.Hierarchy of Exception Classes

Major Section Headings of this Booklet

This booklet has major sections with the following headings:
Java Exception Handling Syllabus of the AP Computer Science A Exam
Concise Explanation of Syllabus Topics with Example Programs
Overview (i.e. Summary) of Exception Handling Concepts
Practice Questions (Praqs): Not Multiple Choice
Detailed Solutions to Practice Questions (Praqs)

There are about 14 practical application oriented example Java programs that illustrate the usage of exception handling constructs.

This booklet also has about 6 practice programming problems (non multiple choice) with detailed solutions.