Java if vs. try/catch overhead

Question

Is there any overhead in Java for using a try/catch block, as opposed to an if block (assuming that the enclosed code otherwise does not re

Answer 1

Use the second version. Never use exceptions for control flow when other alternatives are available, as that is not what they are there for. Exceptions are for exceptional circumstances.

While on the topic, do not catch Exception here, and especially do not swallow it. In your case, you would expect a NullPointerException. If you were to catch something, that is what you would catch (but go back to paragraph one, do not do this). When you catch (and swallow!) Exception, you are saying "no matter what goes wrong, I can handle it. I don't care what it is." Your program might be in an irrevocable state! Only catch what you are prepared to deal with, let everything else propogate to a layer that can deal with it, even if that layer is the top layer and all it does is log the exception and then hit the eject switch.