Definition of Runtime Error

Runtime errors only appear when a program is run. They result from syntactically correct code that calls some step that cannot complete. An example would be a program wanting to open another file, but the second file is corrupted and can't open.

Significance

When a runtime error occurs, the program will stop working unless the programmer has setup a way to bypass the error.

Benefits

Runtime errors can be important if they prevent the user from causing other errors or damage to programs and files.

Identification

With proper programming, a runtime error should identify the cause of the error. For example, an error called because a needed file doesn't exist should say something like "Bad file name."

Prevention/Solution

All good programming should set up error handling routines that will catch potential errors and provide a way to get around them. This does not always happen.

Considerations

Sometimes it is difficult to anticipate all sources of errors given the unpredictability of user behavior. The programmer may code for obvious problems, but if a user does something completely unexpected, this may not be possible.