Handle errors deliberately

A surprising amount of the code I write is about what happens when something goes wrong. Network calls fail. Files don’t exist. Inputs don’t parse. The list goes on.

How those error cases are handled has a big effect on how a function reads. Done well, error handling fades into the background and lets the main logic speak for itself. Done poorly, it can dominate the code and obscure what’s actually happening.

I care about getting this right, both because I want my code to be reliable and because I want it to be readable. I’ll share some of my specific habits on the next few pages.