# <exception>

**[<exception>](https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/header/exception)** provides the base class `std::exception` and utilities for exception handling: `std::terminate_handler`, `std::exception_ptr` (capture and rethrow exceptions across threads), and `std::rethrow_exception`.

Most user code catches specific exceptions derived from `std::runtime_error` or `std::logic_error`, but this header is essential for implementing exception-safe resource management.

## Example

This example throws and catches a runtime exception, accessing its descriptive message via the `what()` method.

```cpp
// compile: g++ -std=c++11 -o exceptionexample exceptionexample.cpp
// run: ./exceptionexample
// description: catch and inspect exceptions

#include <exception>
#include <iostream>
#include <stdexcept>

int main() {
    try {
        throw std::runtime_error("something went wrong");
    } catch (const std::exception& e) {
        std::cout << "caught: " << e.what() << "\n";
    }
    
    return 0;
}
```