How to throw a C++ exception

I have a very poor understanding of exception handling(i.e., how to customize throw, try, catch statements for my own purposes).

For example, I have defined a function as follows: int compare(int a, int b){...}

I'd like the function to throw an exception with some message when either a or b is negative.

How should I approach this in the definition of the function?

Simple:

#include <stdexcept>

int compare( int a, int b ) {
    if ( a < 0 || b < 0 ) {
        throw std::invalid_argument( "received negative value" );
    }
}

The Standard Library comes with a nice collection of built-in exception objects you can throw. Keep in mind that you should always throw by value and catch by reference:

try {
    compare( -1, 3 );
}
catch( const std::invalid_argument& e ) {
    // do stuff with exception... 
}

You can have multiple catch() statements after each try, so you can handle different exception types separately if you want.

You can also re-throw exceptions:

catch( const std::invalid_argument& e ) {
    // do something

    // let someone higher up the call stack handle it if they want
    throw;
}

And to catch exceptions regardless of type:

catch( ... ) { };

Though this question is rather old and has already been answered, I just want to add a note on how to do proper exception handling in C++11:

Use std::nested_exception and std::throw_with_nested

It is described on StackOverflow here and here, how you can get a backtrace on your exceptions inside your code without need for a debugger or cumbersome logging, by simply writing a proper exception handler which will rethrow nested exceptions.

Since you can do this with any derived exception class, you can add a lot of information to such a backtrace! You may also take a look at my MWE on GitHub, where a backtrace would look something like this:

Library API: Exception caught in function 'api_function'
Backtrace:
~/Git/mwe-cpp-exception/src/detail/Library.cpp:17 : library_function failed
~/Git/mwe-cpp-exception/src/detail/Library.cpp:13 : could not open file "nonexistent.txt"

Just add throw where needed, and try block to the caller that handles the error. By convention you should only throw things that derive from std::exception, so include <stdexcept> first.

int compare(int a, int b) {
    if (a < 0 || b < 0) {
        throw std::invalid_argument("a or b negative");
    }
}

void foo() {
    try {
        compare(-1, 0);
    } catch (const std::invalid_argument& e) {
        // ...
    }
}

Also, look into Boost.Exception.

You could define a message to throw when a certain error occurs:

throw std::invalid_argument( "received negative value" );

or you could define it like this:

std::runtime_error greatScott("Great Scott!");          
double getEnergySync(int year) {                        
    if (year == 1955 || year == 1885) throw greatScott; 
    return 1.21e9;                                      
}                                                       

Typically, you would have a try ... catch block like this:

try {
// do something that causes an exception
}catch (std::exception& e){ std::cerr << "exception: " << e.what() << std::endl; }

Adding to this answer, as it doesn't seem advantageous to create another answer for this Q&A at this time.

In the case where you create your own custom exception, that derives from std::exception, when you catch "all possible" exceptions types, you should always start the catch clauses with the "most derived" exception type that may be caught. See the example (of what NOT to do):

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

class MyException : public exception
{
public:
    MyException(const string& msg) : m_msg(msg)
    {
	    cout << "MyException::MyException - set m_msg to:" << m_msg << endl;
    }

   ~MyException()
   {
	    cout << "MyException::~MyException" << endl;
   }

   virtual const char* what() const throw () 
   {
	    cout << "MyException::what" << endl;
	    return m_msg.c_str();
   }

   const string m_msg;
};

void throwDerivedException()
{
    cout << "throwDerivedException - thrown a derived exception" << endl;
    string execptionMessage("MyException thrown");
    throw (MyException(execptionMessage));
}

void illustrateDerivedExceptionCatch()
{
    cout << "illustrateDerivedExceptionsCatch - start" << endl;
    try 
    {
	    throwDerivedException();
    }
    catch (const exception& e)
    {
	    cout << "illustrateDerivedExceptionsCatch - caught an std::exception, e.what:" << e.what() << endl;
	    // some additional code due to the fact that std::exception was thrown...
    }
    catch(const MyException& e)
    {
	    cout << "illustrateDerivedExceptionsCatch - caught an MyException, e.what::" << e.what() << endl;
	    // some additional code due to the fact that MyException was thrown...
    }

    cout << "illustrateDerivedExceptionsCatch - end" << endl;
}

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
    cout << "main - start" << endl;
    illustrateDerivedExceptionCatch();
    cout << "main - end" << endl;
    return 0;
}

NOTE:

0. The proper order should be vice-versa, i.e.- first you catch (const MyException& e) which is followed by catch (const std::exception& e).

1. As you can see, when you run the program as is, the first catch clause will be executed (which is probably what you did NOT want in the first place).

2. Even though the type caught in the first catch clause is of type std::exception, the "proper" version of what() will be called - cause it is caught by reference (change at least the caught argument std::exception type to be by value - and you will experience the "object slicing" phenomena in action).

3. In case that the "some code due to the fact that XXX exception was thrown..." does important stuff WITH RESPECT to the exception type, there is misbehavior of your code here.

4. This is also relevant if the caught objects were "normal" object like: class Base{}; and class Derived : public Base {}...

5. g++ 7.3.0 on Ubuntu 18.04.1 produces a warning that indicates the mentioned issue:

> In function ‘void illustrateDerivedExceptionCatch()’: item12Linux.cpp:48:2: warning: exception of type ‘MyException’ will be caught catch(const MyException& e) ^~~~~

> item12Linux.cpp:43:2: warning: by earlier handler for ‘std::exception’ catch (const exception& e) ^~~~~

Again, I will say, that this answer is only to ADD to the other answers described here (I thought this point is worth mentioning, yet could not depict it within a comment).