Java, Class-specific Exceptions vs. Standard Exceptions

Question

I\'ve been updating an existing library to throw exceptions to help improve debugging by people using the library.

At first, I thought I\'d define exceptions specific to

Answer 1

From Effective Java

You should favor the use of standard exceptions and use the Java platform libraries set of unchecked exceptions that cover what you described. Reusing exceptions has the following benefits :

Makes your API easier to learn and use because it matches established conventions with which programmers are already familiar

Fewer Exception classes means a smaller memory footprint and less time spent loading classes.