What is the advantage of using try {} catch {} versus if {} else {}

Question

I am switching from plain mysql in php to PDO and I have noticed that the common way to test for errors is using a try / catch combination instead of if / else combinations.

Answer 1

Let's say we are writing an a/b division code and the most famous exception case has occurred i.e. 0 divide error, what do you think can be done next? 1. You can print a message and exit. 2. You can print a message and let the user re-enter the values, etc.

There are cases when different people/vendors want to handle the same exception case in different way. The catch block let them do this with ease. If you need to change the way how a certain exception case will be handled, you just need to change the catch block.