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snippets/python-bare-except.md

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+---
+title: "Tip: Avoid using bare except in Python"
+shortTitle: Bare except best practices
+type: tip
+tags: [python,error]
+cover: dark-cloud
+excerpt: It's generally not a good idea to use bare `except` clause in Python, but do you know why?
+dateModified: 2022-02-20T05:00:00-04:00
+---
+
+In Python, keyboard interrupts and system exits are propagated using exceptions (i.e. `KeyboardInterrupt` and `SystemExit`). As a result, a bare `except` clause is going to catch something like the user hitting <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>C</kbd>.
+
+Consider the following code. If the user were to try exiting the program, the keyboard interrupt would be caught by the `except` clause. This would be undesirable, as it prevents the user from actually exiting the program until they provide valid input.
+
+```py
+while True:
+  try:
+    s = input('Input a number:')
+    x = int(s)
+  except:
+    print('Not a number, try again!')
+```
+
+A way to prevent this would be to use `Exception` which will ensure that the user will not be trapped. The only problem with this approach is that `Exception` is generic and will handle pretty much anything thrown at it.
+
+```py
+while True:
+  try:
+    s = input('Input a number:')
+    x = int(s)
+  except Exception:
+    print('Not a number, try again!')
+```
+
+The correct way to handle errors is to specify the type of error you expect. For example, in this code sample, `ValueError` would be appropriate.
+
+```py
+while True:
+  try:
+    s = input('Input a number:')
+    x = int(s)
+  except ValueError:
+    print('Not a number, try again!')
+```
+
+As a rule of thumb, you should only handle expected failure states using `except` with an appropriate error type. In the case of unexpected errors, it might be better to simply let the program fail naturally and exit.