When to use trigger_error() vs throw new Error()?

Question

I throw new Exception when I can catch a failure and do something about it. If I can't do something about it then I just trigger_error().

Now there's something new to me in PHP 7: throw new Error.

E.g.,

if (!mail(...))
    throw new Error('...');

or

if (!mail(...))
    trigger_error('...');

If I don't want to catch the error or do something in case mail() fails should I use throw new Error() or just the plain old trigger_error()?

What instances should we use throw new Error() vs a simple trigger_error()?

Answer 1

The \Error class was, as you already mentioned, introduced in PHP 7.

It acts exactly like an exception since it implements Throwable.

It's also subclasses by the following:

  ArithmeticError
    DivisionByZeroError
  AssertionError
  ParseError
  TypeError
    ArgumentCountError

However, it does not behave like trigger_error(), in fact it behaves exactly like an exception(mostly because it is one).

If you trigger_error() you can't catch it, because it's not an exception. Although there are workarounds.

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This is mostly guestimating on my part.

I assume this exists for a more clear separation of Errors and Exceptions, possibly future plans include deprecating trigger_error and leaving just Error.

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To answer your question.

I'd stick to throwing stuff rather than trigger_error. It's catchable, it's OOP.