Swallowed Exception (ARCH4151)

Key java.logging.swallowed-exception · Severity error · Category logging

Catching an exception and silently discarding it by returning null/a default differs from an empty catch block but is equally dangerous. The caller never learns about the error and silent data loss can occur.

Incorrect

public User find(String id) {
    try {
        return repository.load(id);
    } catch (SQLException e) {
        return null;
    }
}

Correct

public User find(String id) {
    try {
        return repository.load(id);
    } catch (SQLException e) {
        log.error("Failed to load user: {}", id, e);
        throw new DataAccessException(e);
    }
}

Fix

Log and rethrow instead of swallowing; if you must return a default, document the reason explicitly.