In Java, both exceptions and errors are subclasses of the Throwable class, but there are some key differences between them:
- Exceptions are generally caused by a programmatic error and can be anticipated, while errors are typically caused by external factors beyond the control of the program, such as hardware or system failures.
- Exceptions are usually recoverable, while errors are typically not recoverable and indicate serious problems that may require intervention from the user or system administrator.
- Exceptions are divided into two types: checked exceptions and unchecked exceptions. Checked exceptions are checked at compile-time and must be handled or declared in the method signature. Unchecked exceptions, on the other hand, do not need to be handled or declared explicitly. Errors, however, are not checked at compile-time and do not need to be handled or declared explicitly.
- Exceptions are used to handle abnormal conditions that can be handled by the program, such as invalid user input or network connection failures, while errors are used to handle abnormal conditions that are usually beyond the control of the program, such as out-of-memory errors or stack overflow errors.
In summary, exceptions are used to handle recoverable errors that can be anticipated and dealt with programmatically, while errors are used to handle severe and usually unrecoverable problems that typically require intervention from outside the program.