API / Apache FreeMarker Interview questions

What is the difference between TemplateException and ParseException?

The two errors occur at different stages of a template's lifecycle.

Aspect	ParseException	TemplateException
When thrown	While Configuration.getTemplate() parses the .ftl source	While Template.process() evaluates the parsed template against real data
Typical cause	Invalid FTL syntax - unclosed tags, bad expressions	Missing variable, wrong type used with a built-in, method-call failure
Depends on data?	No - purely a syntax problem in the source text	Yes - the same template can succeed or fail depending on what data it receives
Fix location	Edit the template file itself	Fix the data model or guard the expression with ?? / !

In short: a ParseException means the template could not even be compiled; a TemplateException means it compiled fine but failed while actually running against a specific data model.

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At which stage is a ParseException thrown?After the output has already been written to the client

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While the compiled template is being executed against data

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Only when the JVM shuts down

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While the template source is being parsed into an AST

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Why might the same template throw a TemplateException on one request but not another?TemplateException can never depend on data - only ParseException can

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Because FreeMarker recompiles randomly on some requests

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Because ParseException and TemplateException are the same class

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Because it depends on the actual data supplied at process() time, not on the template's syntax

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