The use of C++ exception handling constructs: A comprehensive study

Abstract—Exception handling (EH) is a well-known mechanism that aims at improving software reliability in a modular way—allowing a better separation between the code that deals with exceptional conditions and the code that deals with the normal control flow of a program. Although the exception handling mechanism was conceived almost 40 years ago, formulating a reasonable design of exception handling code is still considered a challenge, which might hinder its widespread use. This paper reports the results of an empirical study that use a mixedmethod approach to investigate the adoption of the exception handing mechanism in C++. Firstly, we carried out a static analysis investigation to understand how developers employ the exception handling construct of C++, considering 65 open-source systems (which comprise 34 million lines of C++ code overall). Then, to better understand the findings from the static analysis phase, we conducted a survey involving 145 C++ developers who have con...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2015
• Where: SCAM
• Authors: Rodrigo Bonifácio, Fausto Carvalho, Guilherme N. Ramos, Uirá Kulesza, Roberta Coelho
• Keywords: SCAM 2015, Software Engineering