Improving exception handling with object-oriented programming

Abstract

An attempt is made to explain how the object-oriented formalism can improve the expressive power of an exception handling system and how it can simplify its implementation and its utilization. Using the proposed approach, a user-friendly, powerful, extensible and reusable exception handling system has been implemented. A specification of such a system using an 00L is described. Several classical exception handling requirements have been easily implemented and new functionalities have been proposed, among which the most important may be the ability for users to reuse and customize the existing system in order to provide specific exception handling in application programs. The system has been implemented in the Lore object-oriented language and in Smalltalk.<>