Multiple Catch Blocks

Part of the Logic & Flow section of Coddy's C# journey — lesson 25 of 66.

Multiple catch blocks allow you to handle different types of exceptions with specific code for each exception type.

Start with a basic try block:

try
{
    int number = int.Parse("abc");
}

Add a catch block for a specific exception:

try
{
    int number = int.Parse("abc");
}
catch (FormatException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Format Exception: " + ex.Message);
}

You can add multiple catch blocks to handle different exceptions:

try
{
    int number = int.Parse("abc");
    int result = a10 / number;
}
catch (FormatException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Format Exception: " + ex.Message);
}
catch (DivideByZeroException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Divide By Zero Exception: " + ex.Message);
}

The first matching catch block will execute. Order your catch blocks from most specific to most general exception types.

Challenge

Easy

Create a method named DivideNumbers that takes two string parameters:

numeratorStr: a string representing the numerator
denominatorStr: a string representing the denominator

The method should:

Try to parse both strings to integers
Try to divide the numerator by the denominator
Return the result as an integer
Handle FormatException by printing "Invalid format" and returning 0
Handle DivideByZeroException by printing "Cannot divide by zero" and returning 0
Handle any other exceptions with a general catch block that prints "An error occurred" and returning 0

Cheat sheet

Multiple catch blocks allow you to handle different types of exceptions with specific code for each exception type.

Basic try-catch with specific exception:

try
{
    int number = int.Parse("abc");
}
catch (FormatException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Format Exception: " + ex.Message);
}

Multiple catch blocks for different exceptions:

try
{
    int number = int.Parse("abc");
    int result = 10 / number;
}
catch (FormatException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Format Exception: " + ex.Message);
}
catch (DivideByZeroException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Divide By Zero Exception: " + ex.Message);
}

The first matching catch block will execute. Order catch blocks from most specific to most general exception types.

Try it yourself

using System;

public class Program
{
    public static int DivideNumbers(string numeratorStr, string denominatorStr)
    {
        // Write your code here
    }
    
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        string numeratorStr = Console.ReadLine();
        string denominatorStr = Console.ReadLine();
        
        int result = DivideNumbers(numeratorStr, denominatorStr);
        Console.WriteLine("Result: " + result);
    }
}