Errors V/s Exceptions In Java

Last Updated : 29 Jan, 2026

Errors and Exceptions represent abnormal conditions that disrupt the normal flow of program execution. Although both belong to the Throwable class hierarchy, they differ significantly in cause, handling, and recoverability.

👁 Error-and-Exception

Error and Exception

Errors

Errors are serious problems that occur due to system-level failures and are generally beyond the control of the application. They are not meant to be caught or handled by the program.

Caused by JVM or system failures
Programs are usually unable to recover

👁 errors

Types of Errors

Runtime Errors vs Compile-Time Errors vs and Logical Errors.

Output:

java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Requested array size exceeds VM limit
at ErrorExample.main(Main.java:3)

Explanation:

The program attempts to allocate an extremely large array, which exceeds the memory limit available to the JVM.
Due to insufficient heap memory, the JVM throws an OutOfMemoryError during runtime.
This error is generated by the JVM and is not meant to be handled by application code.
Once the error occurs, the program terminates abnormally as recovery is not possible.

Exception

Exceptions are abnormal conditions that occur during program execution due to logical or runtime issues. Unlike errors, exceptions can be handled using try-catch blocks.

Caused by application-level issues
Can be handled and recovered.

👁 Exceptions-in-Java-1-768

Types of Exception

The Exception are of two types:

Output

Built-in Exception caught: java.lang.ArithmeticException: / by zero
User-defined Exception caught: Age must be 18 or above

Explanation:

The first try-catch block handles a built-in exception (ArithmeticException) caused by division by zero.
A user-defined exception (AgeNotValidException) is created by extending the Exception class.
The validateAge() method explicitly throws the custom exception when the condition fails.
Both exceptions are caught and handled gracefully, demonstrating proper exception handling.

Errors vs Exceptions

Errors	Exceptions
Recovering from Error is not possible.	We can recover from exceptions by either using try-catch block or throwing exceptions back to the caller.
All errors in java are unchecked type.	Exceptions include both checked as well as unchecked type.
Errors are mostly caused by the environment in which program is running.	Program itself is responsible for causing exceptions.
Errors can occur at compile time.	Unchecked exceptions occur at runtime whereas checked exceptions occur at compile time
They are defined in java.lang.Error package.	They are defined in java.lang.Exception package
Examples : java.lang.StackOverflowError, java.lang.OutOfMemoryError	Examples : Checked Exceptions : SQLException, IOException Unchecked Exceptions : ArrayIndexOutOfBoundException, NullPointerException, ArithmeticException.