Which statement describes the @AfterReturning advice type? (Choose the best answer.)

Question

Options

• AThe advice is invoked only if the method returns successfully but not if it throws an exception.
• BThe @AfterReturning advice allows behavior to be added after a method returns even if it
• CThe advice has complete control over the method invocation; it could even prevent the method
• DTypically used to prevent any exception, thrown by the advised method, from propagating up

• A
  86% (19)
• B
  5% (1)
• C
  9% (2)

Explanation

@AfterReturning fires exclusively on a successful method return - if the method throws an exception, the advice is skipped entirely, making option A the precise definition.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• B (truncated, but describes running "even if" something) points to @After (a.k.a. "after finally"), which runs regardless of whether the method succeeds or throws - that's the key difference from @AfterReturning.
• C describes @Around advice, which wraps the entire method invocation and can even prevent the target method from executing at all.
• D describes @AfterThrowing, which is triggered specifically by exceptions propagating out of the advised method.

Memory tip: Think of @AfterReturning as a success-only callback - it only "celebrates" when the method comes home safely. If anything goes wrong (exception), the party is cancelled. Contrast this with @After (the "always runs" finally block) and @AfterThrowing (the "only runs on disaster" handler).

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