Exception
In plain terms
A signal that something went wrong, interrupting normal flow.
Going deeper
Exceptions let code raise an error and transfer control to a handler, separating error handling from the main logic. Handled well, they make failures explicit and recoverable.
Under the hood
Separates error handling from happy-path logic; checked vs. unchecked exceptions differ by language, and swallowing exceptions silently is a common bug.
Examples
try/catch/finally, throw, custom exception classes, Java checked exceptions.
Think of it like...
Like a smoke alarm: instead of the kitchen quietly burning, it raises an alert that someone is set up to respond to.