Select exception types that match method contracts and avoid surprising behavior. Methods with names like `find_or_initialize_by_*` should not raise validation errors since the standard Rails method doesn't perform validation. Use `save` instead of `save!` when you want to handle validation errors gracefully rather than raising exceptions. Prefer standard...
Select exception types that match method contracts and avoid surprising behavior. Methods with names like find_or_initialize_by_* should not raise validation errors since the standard Rails method doesn’t perform validation. Use save instead of save! when you want to handle validation errors gracefully rather than raising exceptions. Prefer standard exception types like ArgumentError for invalid parameters over custom exceptions when possible.
# Avoid - surprising exception from find_or_initialize method
def self.find_or_initialize_by_domain(domain)
normalized_domain = TagManager.instance.normalize_domain(domain&.strip)
raise ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid if normalized_domain.blank? # Surprising!
end
# Better - use appropriate exception type or remove the method
def self.find_or_initialize_by_domain(domain)
normalized_domain = TagManager.instance.normalize_domain(domain&.strip)
raise ArgumentError, "Invalid domain" if normalized_domain.blank?
end
# Avoid - save! raises exceptions instead of allowing error handling
tag.save! # Causes bogus 422 responses
# Better - use save for graceful error handling
tag.save # Allows proper error annotation on the model
Consider reusing existing exception classes like Mastodon::ValidatorError instead of creating new custom exceptions when the behavior matches existing patterns.
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