java - Avoid printStackTrace(); use a logger call instead

Question

In my application, I am running my code through PMD.It shows me this message:

• Avoid printStackTrace(); use a logger call instead.

What does that mean?

Answer 1

It means you should use logging framework like logback or log4j and instead of printing exceptions directly:

e.printStackTrace();

you should log them using this frameworks' API:

log.error("Ops!", e);

Logging frameworks give you a lot of flexibility, e.g. you can choose whether you want to log to console or file - or maybe skip some messages if you find them no longer relevant in some environment.