Should You Use Flow Control in Java's Finally Blocks?

The Controversial Practice of Flow Control in Finally Blocks in Java

It is widely believed that including return statements or other forms of flow control within a finally block in Java is a dubious practice. Yet, despite this general consensus, certain circumstances may warrant its use.

One compelling example arises from situations where exceptions occur within a deeper level of code, but must be propagated upwards. Consider the following code snippet:

Object problemMethod() {
    Object rtn = null;
    try {
        rtn = somethingThatThrewAnException();
    }
    finally {
        doSomeCleanup();
        return rtn;
    }
}

In this instance, an uncaught exception occurring within the somethingThatThrewAnException method is being rethrown. However, the return statement in the finally block prematurely aborts the exception propagation process, preventing it from reaching the caller of the problemMethod.

This scenario highlights the potential dangers of prematurely terminating exception propagation. While it is technically permissible to use flow control in finally blocks, it should be avoided for the sake of code readability and maintainability. Exceptions should always be handled and propagated appropriately, and relying on finally blocks for this purpose can lead to unexpected and convoluted behavior.

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