javascriptAsync race conditionHard

try/catch doesn't catch the divide-by-zero error

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What it should do

safeDivide(a, b) returns a / b, or -1 if the division fails. Example: await safeDivide(10, 2) → 5, await safeDivide(10, 0) → -1.

What happens instead

await safeDivide(10, 0) throws Error: divide by zero instead of returning -1.

const divide = async (a, b) => {
    if (b === 0) throw new Error("divide by zero");
    return a / b;
};

async function safeDivide(a, b) {
    try {
        return divide(a, b);
    } catch (err) {
        return -1;
    }
}

Test a custom input to verify an edge case (e.g. empty lists, negative numbers, duplicates).

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This bug belongs to the async and race conditions pattern

A missing await, results in the wrong order, and updates that overwrite each other under load.

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const divide = async (a, b) => { if (b === 0) throw new Error("divide by zero"); return a / b; }; async function safeDivide(a, b) { try { return divide(a, b); } catch (err) { return -1; } }

try/catch doesn't catch the divide-by-zero error

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What happens instead

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try/catch doesn't catch the divide-by-zero error

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