System.exit(0) in catch block

I tried using the System.exit(0) to sucessfully avoid execute the finally block.
But is there any reason in a real time project why you would use such a statement in a catch block?

There may not be any specific reason for not executing finally block,
the idea behind using System.exit(0) in a catch block might be just to come out of the program if any specific exception is thrown so that the further execution by any chance doesnt take place.

The statement just describes a possiblity when a finally block doesnt get to execute.

thanks for the post

Think about a class that is used in many different systems. Suppose its methods discover serious corruption in the a data structure such that any further references to that structure, even just writing buffered data to disk in a finally clause, may result in further loss of data. The methods can unconditionally prevent any further processing by calling System.exit() in the catch block for the exception the signaled the error.

The problem with throwing exceptions is that too many programmers just catch Exception, perhaps print a message, and continue processing. This can be very dangerous if the exception indicated a serious problem rather just a NumberFormatException. System.exit() makes sure that no more damage is done before a human has a chance to look at the situation.
[ March 11, 2005: Message edited by: Mike Gershman ]

The System.exit(int) method is abused more often than not (at least in my experience). There are few justifiable reasons to abruptly terminate the VM and the consequences of this abuse are often misunderstood and neglected until the software makes it into production.

Care to share the real problem, rather than a possibly broken solution?

Tony Morris said:

Care to share the real problem, rather than a possibly broken solution?

Tony, I don't understand your question.

[ March 11, 2005: Message edited by: Mike Gershman ]

I can't tell if the original question is a hypothetical, in which case, the answer is simply, "No, you don't call System.exit just because you're within a finally block - you must have a good justifiable reason to forcefully and abruptfully bring down the JVM."

If the original question is related to a specific problem, and "calling System.exit is the solution", then I have asked for the real problem, and not the possibly broken (is there a justified reason? I doubt it) solution.