return and try/catch/finally

[Bin Wang]

For the following two programs, suppose file Hello.txt doesn't exist.
//program 1:
import java.io.*;
public class TryCatchTest2 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
TryCatchTest2 t=new TryCatchTest2();
System.out.println(t.amethod());
}
public int amethod() {
try {
FileInputStream fis=new FileInputStream("Hello.txt");
}
catch (IOException e) {
System.out.println("catch");
return 2;
}
finally {
System.out.println("finally");
}
return 1;
}
}
Putput:
catch
finally
2
//program 2
import java.io.*;
public class TryCatchTest2 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
TryCatchTest2 t=new TryCatchTest2();
System.out.println(t.amethod());
}
public int amethod() {
try {
FileInputStream fis=new FileInputStream("Hello.txt");
}
catch (IOException e) {
System.out.println("catch");
return 2;
}
finally {
System.out.println("finally");
return 1;
}
}
}
output:
catch
finally
1
Can somebody explain why program 1 return 2, not 1? If the checked exception is caught and after finally block, the rest of the method should be executed, right?

[Manfred Leonhardt]

Hi Bin,
You are missing the line:
return 2;
that is inside your catch block. This is the return that is getting executed after the finally block. This is because the JVM guarantees that the finally block will be executed before the method will exit. Since the above statement will cause the method to exit the JVM will execute the finally section before executing the method that originally caused the method to exit.
Regards,
Manfred.