Exception Safety vs Defensive Programming

Developers should learn exception safety to build robust and reliable applications that can recover from errors without crashing or losing data meets developers should learn defensive programming when building critical applications where reliability, security, and stability are paramount, such as in financial systems, healthcare software, or embedded systems. Here's our take.

Exception Safety

Nice Pick

Developers should learn exception safety to build robust and reliable applications that can recover from errors without crashing or losing data

Pros

• It is crucial in systems programming, embedded systems, and any application where resource management (like memory or file handles) is critical, as it helps avoid leaks and ensures consistent state
• Related to: cplusplus, java

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Defensive Programming

Developers should learn defensive programming when building critical applications where reliability, security, and stability are paramount, such as in financial systems, healthcare software, or embedded systems

Pros

• It is essential for preventing crashes, data corruption, and security vulnerabilities by proactively managing errors and invalid states
• Related to: input-validation, error-handling

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Exception Safety is a concept while Defensive Programming is a methodology. We picked Exception Safety based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Exception Safety wins

Based on overall popularity. Exception Safety is more widely used, but Defensive Programming excels in its own space.