catcheswhile

Catcheswhile is a hypothetical or proposed programming construct designed to simplify error handling by combining conditional catching with a looping retry mechanism. A catcheswhile construct executes a block of code and, if an exception occurs, handles it in a catch clause; after handling, it evaluates a guard predicate. If the predicate remains true, control returns to the beginning of the block, effectively retrying the operation. The loop terminates when the block completes successfully or when the predicate evaluates to false, at which point the exception is propagated or a final failure is reported. This pattern is intended for transient errors such as network timeouts, rate limits, or temporary unavailability.

Origin and context: The idea has appeared in online discussions and language-design proposals as a shorthand for retry-with-guard semantics. It is not a standard feature in major languages as of the current knowledge cutoff, and its exact syntax varies across proposals. Some discussions frame it as a higher-order construct that can wrap asynchronous or synchronous code, while others treat it as a descriptive pattern rather than a syntax addition.

Example (pseudo-code): catcheswhile (condition) { try { doOperation(); } catch (Exception e) { if (!condition) throw; } }

Variants may include a maximum retry count, exponential backoff, or separate error handlers for different exception types.

Benefits and drawbacks: Proponents argue it reduces boilerplate when transient failures are expected. Critics warn of hidden infinite loops and reduced readability, and emphasize leveraging established patterns like explicit retry loops, backoff strategies, or circuit breakers.

See also: exception handling, retry pattern, backoff, circuit breaker.