error_handling

•

43126 months ago

Master error handling patterns across languages including exceptions, Result types, error propagation, and graceful degradation to build resilient applications. Use when implementing error handling, designing APIs, or improving application reliability.

Quick Install

npxskills add vuralserhat86/antigravity-agentic-skills--skill error_handling

Instructions

Error Handling Patterns

Build resilient applications with robust error handling strategies that gracefully handle failures and provide excellent debugging experiences.

When to Use This Skill

Implementing error handling in new features
Designing error-resilient APIs
Debugging production issues
Improving application reliability
Creating better error messages for users and developers
Implementing retry and circuit breaker patterns
Handling async/concurrent errors
Building fault-tolerant distributed systems

Core Concepts

1. Error Handling Philosophies

Exceptions vs Result Types:

Exceptions: Traditional try-catch, disrupts control flow
Result Types: Explicit success/failure, functional approach
Error Codes: C-style, requires discipline
Option/Maybe Types: For nullable values

When to Use Each:

Exceptions: Unexpected errors, exceptional conditions
Result Types: Expected errors, validation failures
Panics/Crashes: Unrecoverable errors, programming bugs

2. Error Categories

Recoverable Errors:

Network timeouts
Missing files
Invalid user input
API rate limits

Unrecoverable Errors:

Out of memory
Stack overflow
Programming bugs (null pointer, etc.)

Language-Specific Patterns

Python Error Handling

Custom Exception Hierarchy:

class ApplicationError(Exception):
    """Base exception for all application errors."""
    def __init__(self, message: str, code: str = None, details: dict = None):
        super().__init__(message)
        self.code = code
        self.details = details or {}
        self.timestamp = datetime.utcnow()

class ValidationError(ApplicationError):
    """Raised when validation fails."""
    pass

class NotFoundError(ApplicationError):
    """Raised when resource not found."""
    pass

class ExternalServiceError(ApplicationError):
    """Raised when external service fails."""
    def __init__(self, message: str, service: str, **kwargs):
        super().__init__(message, **kwargs)
        self.service = service

# Usage
def get_user(user_id: str) -> User:
    user = db.query(User).filter_by(id=user_id).first()
    if not user:
        raise NotFoundError(
            f"User not found",
            code="USER_NOT_FOUND",
            details={"user_id": user_id}
        )
    return user

Context Managers for Cleanup:

from contextlib import contextmanager

@contextmanager
def database_transaction(session):
    """Ensure transaction is committed or rolled back."""
    try:
        yield session
        session.commit()
    except Exception as e:
        session.rollback()
        raise
    finally:
        session.close()

# Usage
with database_transaction(db.session) as session:
    user = User(name="Alice")
    session.add(user)
    # Automatic commit or rollback

Retry with Exponential Backoff:

import time
from functools import wraps
from typing import TypeVar, Callable

T = TypeVar('T')

def retry(
    max_attempts: int = 3,
    backoff_factor: float = 2.0,
    exceptions: tuple = (Exception,)
):
    """Retry decorator with exponential backoff."""
    def decorator(func: Callable[..., T]) -> Callable[..., T]:
        @wraps(func)
        def wrapper(*args, **kwargs) -> T:
            last_exception = None
            for attempt in range(max_attempts):
                try:
                    return func(*args, **kwargs)
                except exceptions as e:
                    last_exception = e
                    if attempt < max_attempts - 1:
                        sleep_time = backoff_factor ** attempt
                        time.sleep(sleep_time)
                        continue
                    raise
            raise last_exception
        return wrapper
    return decorator

# Usage
@retry(max_attempts=3, exceptions=(NetworkError,))
def fetch_data(url: str) -> dict:
    response = requests.get(url, timeout=5)
    response.raise_for_status()
    return response.json()

TypeScript/JavaScript Error Handling

Custom Error Classes:

// Custom error classes
class ApplicationError extends Error {
    constructor(
        message: string,
        public code: string,
        public statusCode: number = 500,
        public details?: Record<string, any>
    ) {
        super(message);
        this.name = this.constructor.name;
        Error.captureStackTrace(this, this.constructor);
    }
}

class ValidationError extends ApplicationError {
    constructor(message: string, details?: Record<string, any>) {
        super(message, 'VALIDATION_ERROR', 400, details);
    }
}

class NotFoundError extends ApplicationError {
    constructor(resource: string, id: string) {
        super(
            `${resource} not found`,
            'NOT_FOUND',
            404,
            { resource, id }
        );
    }
}

// Usage
function getUser(id: string): User {
    const user = users.find(u => u.id === id);
    if (!user) {
        throw new NotFoundError('User', id);
    }
    return user;
}

Result Type Pattern:

// Result type for explicit error handling
type Result<T, E = Error> =
    | { ok: true; value: T }
    | { ok: false; error: E };

// Helper functions
function Ok<T>(value: T): Result<T, never> {
    return { ok: true, value };
}

function Err<E>(error: E): Result<never, E> {
    return { ok: false, error };
}

// Usage
function parseJSON<T>(json: string): Result<T, SyntaxError> {
    try {
        const value = JSON.parse(json) as T;
        return Ok(value);
    } catch (error) {
        return Err(error as SyntaxError);
    }
}

// Consuming Result
const result = parseJSON<User>(userJson);
if (result.ok) {
    console.log(result.value.name);
} else {
    console.error('Parse failed:', result.error.message);
}

// Chaining Results
function chain<T, U, E>(
    result: Result<T, E>,
    fn: (value: T) => Result<U, E>
): Result<U, E> {
    return result.ok ? fn(result.value) : result;
}

Async Error Handling:

// Async/await with proper error handling
async function fetchUserOrders(userId: string): Promise<Order[]> {
    try {
        const user = await getUser(userId);
        const orders = await getOrders(user.id);
        return orders;
    } catch (error) {
        if (error instanceof NotFoundError) {
            return [];  // Return empty array for not found
        }
        if (error instanceof NetworkError) {
            // Retry logic
            return retryFetchOrders(userId);
        }
        // Re-throw unexpected errors
        throw error;
    }
}

// Promise error handling
function fetchData(url: string): Promise<Data> {
    return fetch(url)
        .then(response => {
            if (!response.ok) {
                throw new NetworkError(`HTTP ${response.status}`);
            }
            return response.json();
        })
        .catch(error => {
            console.error('Fetch failed:', error);
            throw error;
        });
}

Rust Error Handling

Result and Option Types:

use std::fs::File;
use std::io::{self, Read};

// Result type for operations that can fail
fn read_file(path: &str) -> Result<String, io::Error> {
    let mut file = File::open(path)?;  // ? operator propagates errors
    let mut contents = String::new();
    file.read_to_string(&mut contents)?;
    Ok(contents)
}

// Custom error types
#[derive(Debug)]
enum AppError {
    Io(io::Error),
    Parse(std::num::ParseIntError),
    NotFound(String),
    Validation(String),
}

impl From<io::Error> for AppError {
    fn from(error: io::Error) -> Self {
        AppError::Io(error)
    }
}

// Using custom error type
fn read_number_from_file(path: &str) -> Result<i32, AppError> {
    let contents = read_file(path)?;  // Auto-converts io::Error
    let number = contents.trim().parse()
        .map_err(AppError::Parse)?;   // Explicitly convert ParseIntError
    Ok(number)
}

// Option for nullable values
fn find_user(id: &str) -> Option<User> {
    users.iter().find(|u| u.id == id).cloned()
}

// Combining Option and Result
fn get_user_age(id: &str) -> Result<u32, AppError> {
    find_user(id)
        .ok_or_else(|| AppError::NotFound(id.to_string()))
        .map(|user| user.age)
}

Go Error Handling

Explicit Error Returns:

// Basic error handling
func getUser(id string) (*User, error) {
    user, err := db.QueryUser(id)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to query user: %w", err)
    }
    if user == nil {
        return nil, errors.New("user not found")
    }
    return user, nil
}

// Custom error types
type ValidationError struct {
    Field   string
    Message string
}

func (e *ValidationError) Error() string {
    return fmt.Sprintf("validation failed for %s: %s", e.Field, e.Message)
}

// Sentinel errors for comparison
var (
    ErrNotFound     = errors.New("not found")
    ErrUnauthorized = errors.New("unauthorized")
    ErrInvalidInput = errors.New("invalid input")
)

// Error checking
user, err := getUser("123")
if err != nil {
    if errors.Is(err, ErrNotFound) {
        // Handle not found
    } else {
        // Handle other errors
    }
}

// Error wrapping and unwrapping
func processUser(id string) error {
    user, err := getUser(id)
    if err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("process user failed: %w", err)
    }
    // Process user
    return nil
}

// Unwrap errors
err := processUser("123")
if err != nil {
    var valErr *ValidationError
    if errors.As(err, &valErr) {
        fmt.Printf("Validation error: %s\n", valErr.Field)
    }
}

Universal Patterns

Pattern 1: Circuit Breaker

Prevent cascading failures in distributed systems.

from enum import Enum
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
from typing import Callable, TypeVar

T = TypeVar('T')

class CircuitState(Enum):
    CLOSED = "closed"       # Normal operation
    OPEN = "open"          # Failing, reject requests
    HALF_OPEN = "half_open"  # Testing if recovered

class CircuitBreaker:
    def __init__(
        self,
        failure_threshold: int = 5,
        timeout: timedelta = timedelta(seconds=60),
        success_threshold: int = 2
    ):
        self.failure_threshold = failure_threshold
        self.timeout = timeout
        self.success_threshold = success_threshold
        self.failure_count = 0
        self.success_count = 0
        self.state = CircuitState.CLOSED
        self.last_failure_time = None

    def call(self, func: Callable[[], T]) -> T:
        if self.state == CircuitState.OPEN:
            if datetime.now() - self.last_failure_time > self.timeout:
                self.state = CircuitState.HALF_OPEN
                self.success_count = 0
            else:
                raise Exception("Circuit breaker is OPEN")

        try:
            result = func()
            self.on_success()
            return result
        except Exception as e:
            self.on_failure()
            raise

    def on_success(self):
        self.failure_count = 0
        if self.state == CircuitState.HALF_OPEN:
            self.success_count += 1
            if self.success_count >= self.success_threshold:
                self.state = CircuitState.CLOSED
                self.success_count = 0

    def on_failure(self):
        self.failure_count += 1
        self.last_failure_time = datetime.now()
        if self.failure_count >= self.failure_threshold:
            self.state = CircuitState.OPEN

# Usage
circuit_breaker = CircuitBreaker()

def fetch_data():
    return circuit_breaker.call(lambda: external_api.get_data())

Pattern 2: Error Aggregation

Collect multiple errors instead of failing on first error.

class ErrorCollector {
    private errors: Error[] = [];

    add(error: Error): void {
        this.errors.push(error);
    }

    hasErrors(): boolean {
        return this.errors.length > 0;
    }

    getErrors(): Error[] {
        return [...this.errors];
    }

    throw(): never {
        if (this.errors.length === 1) {
            throw this.errors[0];
        }
        throw new AggregateError(
            this.errors,
            `${this.errors.length} errors occurred`
        );
    }
}

// Usage: Validate multiple fields
function validateUser(data: any): User {
    const errors = new ErrorCollector();

    if (!data.email) {
        errors.add(new ValidationError('Email is required'));
    } else if (!isValidEmail(data.email)) {
        errors.add(new ValidationError('Email is invalid'));
    }

    if (!data.name || data.name.length < 2) {
        errors.add(new ValidationError('Name must be at least 2 characters'));
    }

    if (!data.age || data.age < 18) {
        errors.add(new ValidationError('Age must be 18 or older'));
    }

    if (errors.hasErrors()) {
        errors.throw();
    }

    return data as User;
}

Pattern 3: Graceful Degradation

Provide fallback functionality when errors occur.

from typing import Optional, Callable, TypeVar

T = TypeVar('T')

def with_fallback(
    primary: Callable[[], T],
    fallback: Callable[[], T],
    log_error: bool = True
) -> T:
    """Try primary function, fall back to fallback on error."""
    try:
        return primary()
    except Exception as e:
        if log_error:
            logger.error(f"Primary function failed: {e}")
        return fallback()

# Usage
def get_user_profile(user_id: str) -> UserProfile:
    return with_fallback(
        primary=lambda: fetch_from_cache(user_id),
        fallback=lambda: fetch_from_database(user_id)
    )

# Multiple fallbacks
def get_exchange_rate(currency: str) -> float:
    return (
        try_function(lambda: api_provider_1.get_rate(currency))
        or try_function(lambda: api_provider_2.get_rate(currency))
        or try_function(lambda: cache.get_rate(currency))
        or DEFAULT_RATE
    )

def try_function(func: Callable[[], Optional[T]]) -> Optional[T]:
    try:
        return func()
    except Exception:
        return None

Best Practices

Fail Fast: Validate input early, fail quickly
Preserve Context: Include stack traces, metadata, timestamps
Meaningful Messages: Explain what happened and how to fix it
Log Appropriately: Error = log, expected failure = don't spam logs
Handle at Right Level: Catch where you can meaningfully handle
Clean Up Resources: Use try-finally, context managers, defer
Don't Swallow Errors: Log or re-throw, don't silently ignore
Type-Safe Errors: Use typed errors when possible

# Good error handling example
def process_order(order_id: str) -> Order:
    """Process order with comprehensive error handling."""
    try:
        # Validate input
        if not order_id:
            raise ValidationError("Order ID is required")

        # Fetch order
        order = db.get_order(order_id)
        if not order:
            raise NotFoundError("Order", order_id)

        # Process payment
        try:
            payment_result = payment_service.charge(order.total)
        except PaymentServiceError as e:
            # Log and wrap external service error
            logger.error(f"Payment failed for order {order_id}: {e}")
            raise ExternalServiceError(
                f"Payment processing failed",
                service="payment_service",
                details={"order_id": order_id, "amount": order.total}
            ) from e

        # Update order
        order.status = "completed"
        order.payment_id = payment_result.id
        db.save(order)

        return order

    except ApplicationError:
        # Re-raise known application errors
        raise
    except Exception as e:
        # Log unexpected errors
        logger.exception(f"Unexpected error processing order {order_id}")
        raise ApplicationError(
            "Order processing failed",
            code="INTERNAL_ERROR"
        ) from e

Common Pitfalls

Catching Too Broadly: except Exception hides bugs
Empty Catch Blocks: Silently swallowing errors
Logging and Re-throwing: Creates duplicate log entries
Not Cleaning Up: Forgetting to close files, connections
Poor Error Messages: "Error occurred" is not helpful
Returning Error Codes: Use exceptions or Result types
Ignoring Async Errors: Unhandled promise rejections

Resources

references/exception-hierarchy-design.md: Designing error class hierarchies
references/error-recovery-strategies.md: Recovery patterns for different scenarios
references/async-error-handling.md: Handling errors in concurrent code
assets/error-handling-checklist.md: Review checklist for error handling
assets/error-message-guide.md: Writing helpful error messages
scripts/error-analyzer.py: Analyze error patterns in logs

Error Handling v1.1 - Enhanced

🔄 Workflow

Kaynak: Sentry Best Practices

Aşama 1: Prevention (Design Time)

Typed Errors: Generic Exception yerine UserNotFound gibi özel hatalar tanımla.
Boundaries: API ve UI katmanlarında global ErrorBoundary veya try-catch wrapper'lar kur.

Aşama 2: Handling (Run Time)

Recover: Hata oluştuğunda kullanıcıya "Unknown Error" yerine anlamlı bir durum göster (Graceful Degradation).
Context: Hatayı yakalarken user_id, input_params gibi bağlamları da logla.
Clean: Açık kalan DB bağlantılarını veya dosyaları finally bloğunda kapat.

Aşama 3: Monitoring (Post Design)

Track: Hataları Sentry/Datadog gibi bir servise gönder (Silent failure olmasın).
Alert: Kritik hatalar (500, Payment Failed) için Slack/Email alarmı kur.

Kontrol Noktaları

Aşama	Doğrulama
1	Hata fırlatıldığında uygulama çöküyor mu yoksa hata sayfası mı gösteriyor?
2	Loglarda "Error: object Object" gibi anlamsız satırlar var mı?
3	Hassas veriler (Password, Token) loglanıyor mu? (Maskelenmeli)

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