Windows® via C/C++, Fifth Edition

C++ Exceptions vs. Structured Exceptions

Developers frequently ask me whether they should use structured exceptions or C++ exceptions when developing their applications. I’d like to offer an answer in this section.

Let me start by reminding you that SEH is an operating system facility available in any programming language, while C++ EH can be used only when writing C++ code. If you’re writing a C++ application, you should use C++ exceptions instead of structured exceptions. The reason is that C++ exceptions are part of the language, and therefore the compiler knows what a C++ class object is. This means that the compiler automatically generates code to call C++ object destructors in order to guarantee object cleanup.

However, you should know that ...