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How do you handle global errors on the server side?

sobes.tech AI

Answer from AI

There are several common approaches for catching global errors on the server side:

  • Using built-in framework/platform mechanisms: Most server frameworks (Node.js with Express, Python with Django/Flask, Ruby with Rails, etc.) provide built-in error handlers.

    // Example for Express.js
    app.use((err, req, res, next) => {
      console.error(err.stack); // Log the error
      res.status(500).send('Something went wrong!'); // Send response to client
    });
    
    # Example for Flask
    @app.errorhandler(500)
    def internal_server_error(e):
        return "Something went wrong!", 500
    
  • Catching unhandled exceptions: In runtime environments like Node.js, you can subscribe to global events such as unhandledRejection and uncaughtException to catch errors that would otherwise crash the process.

    // Example for Node.js
    process.on('uncaughtException', (err) => {
      console.error('Uncaught exception:', err);
      // Actions like sending notifications or graceful shutdown can be performed here
      process.exit(1); // Exit with error
    });
    
    process.on('unhandledRejection', (reason, promise) => {
      console.error('Unhandled promise rejection:', reason);
      // Actions like logging or sending notifications can be performed here
    });
    
  • Centralized logging: Sending detailed error information to a centralized logging system (e.g., ELK Stack, Sentry, Datadog) for analysis, alerting, and monitoring.

  • Using middleware (for web frameworks): Creating middleware that wraps request handling and catches errors occurring within.

  • Applying monitoring tools: Using application performance monitoring (APM) tools like New Relic, Dynatrace, or AppDynamics, which automatically catch and aggregate error information.