How do I fix a Java:26: error: illegal start of type (throws)

Question

I'm new to writing Java code and I'm having a hard time understand how throwing works. I keep getting errors when I compile a portion of my code that has to do with throwing. How do I fix these?

My code:

class BankAccount {
    public String name;
    public double balance;

    public BankAccount(String name, double balance) throws NegativeAmountException {
        this.name = name;
        this.balance = balance; // set name and balance
        // throw exception if balance is negative
        if (balance < 0) { // make sure balance is not negative
            throw new NegativeAmountException(
                    "Can not create an account with a negative amount.");
        }
    }

    public BankAccount(String name) throws NegativeAmountException {
        this(name, 0); // set name and use 0 balance
    }

    // update balance by adding deposit amount
    // make sure deposit amount is not negative
    // throw exception if deposit is negative
    public void deposit(double amount) {
        if (amount > 0) {
            this.balance += amount;
        } else {
             throw new NegativeAmountException("Deposit amount must not be negative");
        }
    }

     throws NegativeAmountException
    // update balance by subtracting withdrawal amount
    // throw exception if funds are not sufficient
    // make sure withdrawal amount is not negative
    // throw NegativeAmountException if amount is negative
    // throw InsufficientFundsException if balance < amount
    public void withdraw(double amount) throws InsufficientFundsException,
            NegativeAmountException {
        if (amount > getBalance()) {
            throw new InsufficientFundsException(
                    "You do not have sufficient funds for this operation.");
        } else if (amount < 0) {
            throw new NegativeAmountException(
                    "Withdrawal amount must not be negative.");
        } else {
            this.balance -= amount;
        }
    }

    // return current balance
    public double getBalance() {
        return this.balance;
    }

    // print bank statement including customer name
    // and current account balance
    public void printStatement() {
        System.out.println("Balance for " + this.name + ": " + getBalance());
    }
}

The errors I get are:

 BankAccount.java:26: error: illegal start of type
       throws NegativeAmountException
       ^
 BankAccount.java:26: error: ';' expected
       throws NegativeAmountException
             ^

Answer 1

Your deposit method is not defined correctly. You are right in your understanding that it must declare which checked exceptions it throws, but you are not using the correct syntax. Currently, your code looks like this:

public void deposit(double amount) {
    // Implementation of the method
}
throws NegativeAmountException

The throws clause is part of the method's declaration, and as such should come before its implementation:

public void deposit(double amount) throws NegativeAmountException {
    // Implementation of the method
}