Exceptions and Assertions - The Java Programming Language - page 422

12.4. TRy , catch , and finally
You catch exceptions by enclosing code in TRy blocks. The basic syntax
for a TRy block is:
try {
statements
} catch ( exception_type1 identifier1 ) {
statements
} catch ( exception_type2 identifier2 ) {
statements
...
} finally {
statements
}
where either at least one catch clause, or the finally clause, must be
present. The body of the try statement is executed until either an excep-
tion is thrown or the body finishes successfully. If an exception is thrown,
each catch clause is examined in turn, from first to last, to see wheth-
er the type of the exception object is assignable to the type declared in
the catch . When an assignable catch clause is found, its block is executed
with its identifier set to reference the exception object. No other catch
clause will be executed. Any number of catch clauses, including zero, can
be associated with a particular TRy as long as each clause catches a dif-
ferent type of exception. If no appropriate catch is found, the exception
percolates out of the try statement into any outer try that might have a
catch clause to handle it.
If a finally clause is present with a try , its code is executed after all other
processing in the try is complete. This happens no matter how comple-
tion was achieved, whether normally, through an exception, or through a
control flow statement such as return or break .