Why do we need the "finally" statement in Python?

Question

I am not sure why we need

finally

in

try...except...finally

statements. In my opinion, this code block

try:

    run_code1()

except TypeError:

    run_code2()

other_code()

is the same with this one using

finally

:

try:

    run_code1()

except TypeError:

    run_code2()

finally:

    other_code()

Am I missing something?

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Answer 1

It makes a difference if you return early:

try:
    run_code1()
except TypeError:
    run_code2()
    return None   # The finally block is run before the method returns
finally:
    other_code()

Compare to this:

try:
    run_code1()
except TypeError:
    run_code2()
    return None   

other_code()  # This doesn't get run if there's an exception.

Other situations that can cause differences:

If an exception is thrown inside the except block.
If an exception is thrown in run_code1() but it's not a TypeError.
Other control flow statements such as continue and break statements.

Why do we need the "finally" statement in Python?

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