Is it a bad idea to use printStackTrace() for caugt Exceptions?

Question

Is it a bad idea to use printStackTrace() in Android Exceptions like this?

} catch (Exception e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

Answer 1

Yes. printStackTrace() is convenient but discouraged, especially on Android where it is visible through logcat but gets logged at an unspecified level and without a proper message. Instead, the proper way to log an exception is...

Log.e(TAG, "Explanation of what was being attempted", e);

Note that the exception is used as a third parameter, not appended to the message parameter. Log handles the details for you – printing your message (which gives the context of what you were trying to do in your code) and the Exception's message, as well as its stack trace.