What is the difference between `raise` and `assert`

The difference between raise and assert lies primarily in their purpose and use cases within Python programming.

raise is used to trigger an exception intentionally. It allows you to create and throw custom exceptions to indicate that an error condition has occurred that needs to be handled. For example, you can use it to signal that a specific value is invalid.

assert, on the other hand, is used as a debugging aid that tests a condition as a part of the code. If the condition evaluates as False, an AssertionError will be raised. Assertions are typically used to catch programming errors and can be disabled globally with the -O (optimize) flag, making them unsuitable for handling run-time errors in production.

Here’s an example demonstrating the use of both:

// Example of using raise and assert in PHP function checkAge($age) { // Using assert to check a condition assert($age >= 0, "Age cannot be negative"); // Using throw to raise an exception if ($age < 18) { throw new Exception("You must be at least 18 years old."); } return "Age is valid."; } try { echo checkAge(-5); // This will trigger an assertion failure } catch (Exception $e) { echo $e->getMessage(); // This will display the exception message if age is less than 18 }

raise assert exception handling Python programming debugging