How can I break from a try/catch block without throwing an exception in Java

Question

I need a way to break from the middle of try/catch block without throwing an exception. Something that is similar to the break and continue in for loops. Is this possible?

Answer 1

This is the code I usually do:

 try
 {
    ...........
    throw null;//this line just works like a 'break'
    ...........   
  }
  catch (NullReferenceException)
  { 
  }
  catch (System.Exception ex)
  {
      .........
  }

Answer 2

Various ways:

• return
• break or continue when in a loop
• break to label when in a labeled statement (see @aioobe's example)
• break when in a switch statement.

...

• System.exit() ... though that's probably not what you mean.

---

In my opinion, "break to label" is the most natural (least contorted) way to do this if you just want to get out of a try/catch. But it could be confusing to novice Java programmers who have never encountered that Java construct.

But while labels are obscure, in my opinion wrapping the code in a do ... while (false) so that you can use a break is a worse idea. This will confuse non-novices as well as novices. It is better for novices (and non-novices!) to learn about labeled statements.

---

By the way, return works in the case where you need to break out of a finally. But you should avoid doing a return in a finally block because the semantics are a bit confusing, and liable to give the reader a headache.

Answer 3

You can always do it with a break from a loop construct or a labeled break as specified in aioobies answer.

public static void main(String[] args) {
    do {
        try {
            // code..
            if (condition)
                break;
            // more code...
        } catch (Exception e) {

        }
    } while (false);
}

Answer 4

In this sample in catch block i change the value of counter and it will break while block:

class TestBreak {
    public static void main(String[] a) {
        int counter = 0;

        while(counter<5) {
            try {
                counter++;
                int x = counter/0;
            }
            catch(Exception e) {
                counter = 1000;    
            }
        }
    }
}k

Answer 5

There are several ways to do it:

1. Move the code into a new method and return from it

2. Wrap the try/catch in a do{}while(false); loop.

Answer 6

The proper way to do it is probably to break down the method by putting the try-catch block in a separate method, and use a return statement:

public void someMethod() {
    try {
        ...
        if (condition)
            return;
        ...
    } catch (SomeException e) {
        ...
    }
}

If the code involves lots of local variables, you may also consider using a break from a labeled block, as suggested by Stephen C:

label: try {
    ...
    if (condition)
        break label;
    ...
} catch (SomeException e) {
    ...
}