Is finally block really necessary for the clean up code (like closing streams)?

Question

I am very confused as to why do I need to need to put the clean-up code like closing streams in a finally block.

I\'ve read that the code in finally<

Answer 1

If an Exception occurs, ie, the try block is executed, then, rest assured, the finally block will also be executed. It's just a safeguard option instead of putting an unreliable assumption that the rest of the method will get executed.

Answer 2

Maybe there is a slight misunderstanding here (or this is myself who misunderstand). The finally block is run whether a method exits on exceptional conditions or not, e.g.

 try {
      throw new Exception();
 }
 finally {
      // Block of code will be called before the method exits as exception is thrown
 }

Note that there is (very) few exception to this rule, as, for instance:

 try {
      System.exit(-1);
 }
 finally {
      // Block of code will be called before the method exits as exception is thrown
 }

This is a (quite dangerous) case where the program will exit without executing the finally block.