Should a retrieval method return 'null' or throw an exception when it can't produce the return value? [closed]

Answer 1

Just ask yourself: "is it an exceptional case that the object is not found"? If it is expected to happen in the normal course of your program, you probably should not raise an exception (since it is not exceptional behavior).

Short version: use exceptions to handle exceptional behavior, not to handle normal flow of control in your program.

-Alan.