Can I remove empty catch with throw?

Question

I'm hoping this is straightforward. I work on a large code-base, the overall quality is good, but occasionally you get some of these:

try {    // Calls a .NET remoting method. } catch {    throw; } 

Note there is no finally logic and the catch does not specify any exceptions or do anything other than what I've provided above. However, I know that catching and re-throwing can alter the call-stack in the exception details. What I'm not sure about is if this behaviour is here specifically because of a .NET remoting call.

Is it safe to remove this try-catch? So far as I can see, it is, but I thought I'd double check for any odd behaviour first.

Answer 1

Rethrowing as you've shown it shouldn't change the call stack, unless there's something very special about remoting exceptions. (I know there are some special aspects, but I don't think they come into play here.) This is the kind of thing which does lose information:

catch(Exception e) {     throw e; // Not throw; } 

My guess is that some developer has included this just so they can put a breakpoint on the throw line. I would get rid of it.