Difference between e.printStackTrace and System.out.println(e)

exception, java

Solution

The output stream used is not the same as pointed out by @Brian, but the level of detail is not the same either - you can try with the simple test below. Output:

With `println`: you only know what exception has been thrown

java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException: Not yet implemented

With `printStackTrace`: you also know what caused it (line numbers + call stack)

java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException: Not yet implemented at javaapplication27.Test1.test(Test1.java:27) at javaapplication27.Test1.main(Test1.java:19)

public static void main(String[] args){
    try {
        test();
    } catch (UnsupportedOperationException e) {
        System.out.println(e);
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}

private static void test() {
    throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Not yet implemented");
}

Problem

Probably a newbie question, but everyone seems to use `e.printStackTrace()`, but I have always used `System.out.println(e)` when exception handling. What is the difference and why is `e.printStackTrace()` preferable?

Original source