# Add \`finally as e\`

**URL:** <https://discuss.python.org/t/add-finally-as-e/73429>\
**Category:** Ideas\
**Created:** [December 5, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/add-finally-as-e/73429 "2024-12-05T22:19:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 4

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**Author:** ![iritkatriel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discuss.python.org/iritkatriel/32/2615_2.png) [@iritkatriel](https://discuss.python.org/u/iritkatriel)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 9:18am UTC](https://discuss.python.org/t/add-finally-as-e/73429/4 "2024-12-06T09:18:30Z")

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> [@blhsing](#):
>
> The first item makes sense to me for logging the traceback of a non-critical error before allowing the execution to move on:
> 
> ```python
> try:
> raise NonCriticalError
> except:
> traceback.print_exc()
> 
> # continue execution
> 
> ```

The reason that PEP 8 and linters advise against using `except:` is that it catches _all_ exceptions, and any code can raise exceptions that you should treat as critical (in the sense that the program should not ignore them). The usual examples are `KeyboardInterrupt` and `MemoryError`, but there are other cases. Simply logging that fact that someone requested to exit the program with a `ctrl-C` and moving on doesn’t make sense.

> [@csm10495](#):
>
> We separate out the different exception handlers but then sort of always handle the `finally as` exception as a generic exception with all matches going into it.

Strictly speaking, it’s the exception that is in-flight when the `finally` block executes. This is any exception that was not caught, caught and reraised, or a new exception raised from an `except` clause. If `finally as e` is confusing, maybe `finally e` (as I [originally proposed](https://discuss.python.org/t/pep-760-no-more-bare-excepts/67182/5)) works better.

> [@csm10495](#):
>
> It makes me wonder: How common is this pattern to begin with? I can’t think of a recent case where I needed the exception inside the finally block since I used it in the except block.

This is proposed as an alternative to

```python
except:
   ...
   raise

```

If you look for this pattern (say in the stdlib) you will find it used quite a bit.

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