Recipes: Error Handling

Short, task-focused how-tos for specific things you'll want to do with exceptions. Each recipe assumes you already know the basics — if a term surprises you, the Learn section is one click away.

Unlike the tutorials, the recipes don't have a recommended order. Pick whichever is useful right now.

Recipes in this guide

• Create custom exceptions — building a small exception hierarchy for your project, including naming conventions and useful attributes.
• Handle multiple exceptions — handling several exception types in one block, re-raising, and exception chaining.
• Use context managers — the with statement, file and connection cleanup, and writing your own __enter__/__exit__ pairs.
• Avoid common error handling mistakes — bare except, swallowed exceptions, and other anti-patterns that hide bugs.