Originally posted by Stan James:
Be aware that this is controversial. I happen to fall in the camp that thinks there is a place for it. Read the exceptions chapter in Bruce Eckell's Thinking In Java (available online) for a balanced overview of the controversy.
If I could object just slightly. You will not find a balanced overview in this text. Simply, there is (at least) a third camp, who just "sit back and watch" and believe that both sides of the argument ride on a flawed premise and that failure to identify this flawed premise will result in what we observe today. This "camp" can also reliably predict the next movement (i.e. shift of reality) of both sides of the argument, and for this reason, proclaim a better understanding (e.g. using the scientific method is more plausible than ad hoc).