Is it a good practice to use try-except-else in Python?

Question

From time to time in Python, I see the block:

try:
   try_this(whatever)
except SomeException as exception:
   #Handle exception
else:
   return something
         


        

Answer 1

Is it a good practice to use try-except-else in python?

The answer to this is that it is context dependent. If you do this:

d = dict()
try:
    item = d['item']
except KeyError:
    item = 'default'

It demonstrates that you don't know Python very well. This functionality is encapsulated in the dict.get method:

item = d.get('item', 'default')

The try/except block is a much more visually cluttered and verbose way of writing what can be efficiently executing in a single line with an atomic method. There are other cases where this is true.

However, that does not mean that we should avoid all exception handling. In some cases it is preferred to avoid race conditions. Don't check if a file exists, just attempt to open it, and catch the appropriate IOError. For the sake of simplicity and readability, try to encapsulate this or factor it out as apropos.

Read the Zen of Python, understanding that there are principles that are in tension, and be wary of dogma that relies too heavily on any one of the statements in it.