[Xorp-hackers] BGP and exceptions

[Bruce Simpson]

Ben Greear wrote:
...
> Since you don't even get a useful stack-trace out of the exception
> crashes, and since the attribute decode logic is typically ~20 stack frames
> deep, it's very difficult to debug the cause of the exceptions and to
> figure out where to add appropriate catch() logic.

Perhaps finishing the backtrace() facility would help.

I have run into this issue myself on some current work, the trouble is
getting clients to run code out of SVN may still be asking too much--
although some shops do have enough in-house talent to swing it.

Our policy of not implementing release branches has worked against us
here, however, that was not a policy I instituted; there just haven't
been enough people working full-time on the code to justify it outside
of the company.

> Does anyone have any strong attraction to using exceptions, or can
> we move to returning NULL and/or checking an 'is_valid()' flag
> on the attributes instead of throwing lots of exceptions?

It's how we've always done things, as it's a good use of the language
and helps to cut down on cluttering the code with conditionals.

+1 for staying with exceptions.