If you've worked with Java, you've certainly encountered exceptions.

But do you know the difference between checked and unchecked exceptions? 🤔

🔍 Checked Exceptions: These are exceptions that the compiler forces you to handle. They typically represent conditions that can occur due to factors outside the program's control, like network issues 🌐 or I/O failures 📝. For example, when trying to open a file that doesn’t exist, a FileNotFoundException is thrown.

As a developer, you must either handle these exceptions (using a try-catch block) or declare that the method can throw them (using throws in the method signature).

🔍 Unchecked Exceptions: These exceptions are subclasses of RuntimeException and are not checked by the compiler. They usually indicate programming errors, such as trying to access an array index out of bounds (ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException) 🛑 or dividing by zero (ArithmeticException).

Since they aren't mandatory to handle, you can choose to catch them or let them propagate.

⚖️ When to Use Which?

Use checked exceptions for situations where failure is expected and recoverable 🔄.

Use unchecked exceptions to indicate programming errors that ideally should be fixed rather than handled 🛠️.

Understanding this difference helps you write more robust code 💪 and make better decisions when dealing with errors. How do you usually handle exceptions in your code? Share your experiences in the comments! 💬

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