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Python Python Basics Functions and Looping Raising Exceptions

Shaun Barbour
PLUS
Shaun Barbour
Courses Plus Student 1,907 Points
Posted by Shaun Barbour
Shaun Barbour
Courses Plus Student 1,907 Points

(raising errors, try, except) vs. checking the validity of the input within the function with if and elif.

for this specific lesson, why wouldn't you just check the validity of the user input within the function with if, elif, and else statements? if input is not valid, give the user a message and call the function again. seems a lot cleaner and easier to understand.

1 Answer

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,268 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,268 Points

The fact that the chapter name is "Raising Exceptions" is likely to be a clue here. You're probably right that exception handling isn't the simplest way to implement the validity checks, but the validity checks might be a simple way to illustrate how exception handling can be implemented.

As the lessons move into more advanced techniques, you'll probably see more cases where the application they are applied to seem a bit trivial. But the simple examples are good for understanding the concepts. In actual practice you may use these is much more complex situations.