How do Error and unchecked exceptions differ in Java?

In Java, Error and unchecked exceptions (RuntimeException and its subclasses) are both subclasses of Throwable, but they serve different purposes:

• Error — these are serious errors that occur in the virtual machine (e.g., OutOfMemoryError, StackOverflowError). They are usually not handled by the application, as they indicate problems at the JVM or runtime environment level.

• Unchecked exceptions — these are exceptions that do not require mandatory catching or declaring in throws. They are typically related to errors in the program logic, such as NullPointerException, IllegalArgumentException. They can be handled, but it is not mandatory.

Thus, Error represents critical runtime errors, while unchecked exceptions are errors in the code that are not checked by the compiler.