Java allows methods to declare that they throw checked exceptions even when they don't. This can lead to call sites beng forced to explicitly handle or propagate exceptions which provably can never occur.
private static void validateRequest(Request request) throws IOException { checkArgument(request.hasFoo(), "foo must be specified"); } Response handle(Request request) { try { validateRequest(request); } catch (IOException e) { // Required, but unreachable. return failedResponse(); } // ... }
Including unthrown exceptions can be reasonable where the method is overridable, as overriding methods will not be able to declare that they throw any exceptions not included.