“We do not use C++ exceptions” — What's the alternative? Let it crash?

Question

\"We do not use C++ exceptions.\"

If you don\'t use exceptions, what happens when there\'s an error? You just let the program crash?

Answer 1

The linked style guide explains it well:

On their face, the benefits of using exceptions outweigh the costs, especially in new projects. However, for existing code, the introduction of exceptions has implications on all dependent code. If exceptions can be propagated beyond a new project, it also becomes problematic to integrate the new project into existing exception-free code. Because most existing C++ code at Google is not prepared to deal with exceptions, it is comparatively difficult to adopt new code that generates exceptions.

It is relatively easy in C++ to create robust code without using exceptions or worrying about Exception Guarantees. With return codes and asserts, exceptions are really limited to programmer errors.