"Orchid XP v8" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote

> Unfortunately, it has become common for programs to give messages such
> as "an unexpected error has occurred. Sorry."
>
> [BTW, WTF is an *expected* error anyway??]

Actually, the above *is* an example of an expected error (the programmer put
that message in, didn't he?). Unexpected errors either go unnoticed or crash
the system.

> When I was at college, this would _never_ do. Programs are expected to
> "fail gracefully" - and they are expected to provide *meaningful* error
> condition descriptions.

Well, real life begins when college ends.

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