I am using a Python based API where there are lots of functions to query things, like doesPointExist, findPoint, canCreateNewPoint, etc where the negative result throws an exception. This makes the code much more cluttered filled with try/catch statements, instead of directly using the result as a boolean value.
Since I am not a Python expert, I am wondering if this design is Pythonic or not? I haven't seen this sort of design in the standard libraries though, so I am assuming this kind of exception usage in Python APIs is frowned upon?
API design is a bit of an art. The name of a function should suggest how it will behave, including setting up user expectations. A function named findPoint implies that the search may fail, so the case where no such point exists is not exceptional, and may return None to signal the result. A function named getPoint, however, would imply to me that it can always return the requested point. A failure would be unexpected and warrant raising an exception.