PHP finally keyword

gistfile1.php

<?php
function throw_exception() {
  // Arbitrary code here
  throw new Exception('Hello, Joe!');
}

function some_code() {
  // Arbitrary code here
}

try {
  throw_exception();
} catch (Exception $e) {
  echo $e->getMessage();
}

some_code();

gistfile2.php

<?php
function throw_exception() {
  // Arbitrary code here
  throw new Exception('Hello, Joe!');
}

function some_code() {
  // Arbitrary code here
}

try {
  throw_exception();
} catch (Exception $e) {
  echo $e->getMessage();
} finally {
  some_code();
}

What's the difference? Under what circumstances would the first example not run some_code()?

No difference in your example, but what if you are in a function, and you don't acutally want to catch the exception, but you need to guarantee to clean up before exiting the function. Without finally you have to duplicate code:

function do_thing() {
    allocate_resource(); // e.g. open a file.
    try {
        may_throw_exception();
        clean_up(); // e.g. close file
    } catch (Exception $e) {
        clean_up(); // DUPLICATE CODE!!!
        throw $e;
    }
}

With finally, you can do

function do_thing() {
    allocate_resource();
    try {
        may_throw_exception();
    } finally {
        clean_up();
    }
}

Thanks Tim, good example.