ERR13-J. Do not throw RuntimeException

Methods must not throw RuntimeException or Exception. Handling these exceptions requires catching RuntimeException, which is disallowed by rule ERR14-J. Do not catch NullPointerException, RuntimeException, Exception, or Throwable. Moreover, throwing a RuntimeException can lead to subtle errors, for example, a caller cannot examine the exception to determine why it was thrown, and consequently cannot attempt recovery.

Methods can throw a specific exception subclassed from Exception. Note that it is permissible to construct an exception class specifically for a single throw statement.

Noncompliant Code Example

The isCapitalized() method in this noncompliant code example accepts a string and returns true when it consists of a capital letter followed by lowercase letters. The method also throws null a RuntimeException when passed a null string argument.

boolean isCapitalized(String s) {
  if (s == null) {
    throw new RuntimeException("Null String");
  }
  if (s.equals("")) {
    return true;
  }
  String first = s.substring(0, 1);
  String rest = s.substring(1);
  return (first.equals(first.toUpperCase()) &&
          rest.equals(rest.toLowerCase()));
}

A calling method must violate also rule ERR14-J. Do not catch NullPointerException, RuntimeException, Exception, or Throwable to determine if the RuntimeException was thrown.

Compliant Solution

This compliant solution throws the (NullPointerException) to denote the specific exceptional condition.

boolean isCapitalized(String s) {
  if (s == null) {
    throw new NullPointerException();
  }
  if (s.equals("")) {
    return true;
  }
  String first = s.substring(0, 1);
  String rest = s.substring(1);
  return (first.equals(first.toUpperCase()) &&
          rest.equals(rest.toLowerCase()));
}

Note that the null check is redundant; if it were removed, the next call (s.equals("")) will throw a NullPointerException when s is null. However, the explicit null check is good form, because it explicitly indicates the programmer's intent. More complex code may require explicit testing of invariants and appropriate throw statements.

Noncompliant Code Example

This noncompliant code example specifies the Exception class in the throws clause of the method declaration for the doSomething() method.

private void doSomething() throws Exception {
  //...
}

Compliant Solution

This compliant solution declares a specific exception in the throws clause of the method declaration for the doSomething() method.

private void doSomething() throws IOException {
  //...
}

Exceptions

EXC13-EX0: Classes that sanitize exceptions to comply with a security policy are permitted to translate specific exceptions into more general exceptions. This translation could potentially result in throwing RuntimeException or Exception in some cases, depending on the details of the security policy.

Risk Assessment

Throwing RuntimeException and Exception prevents classes from catching the intended exceptions without catching other unintended exceptions as well.

Related Vulnerabilities

Search for vulnerabilities resulting from the violation of this rule on the CERT website.

Bibliography

[[Goetz 2004b]]
[[MITRE 2009]] CWE ID 397 "Declaration of Throws for Generic Exception", CWE ID 537 "Information Exposure Through Java Runtime Error Message"
[[Tutorials 2008]] Unchecked Exceptions — The Controversy

ERR11-J. Restore prior object state on method failure      06. Exceptional Behavior (ERR)      ERR14-J. Do not catch NullPointerException, RuntimeException, Exception, or Throwable