LaTeX Mysteries and an algorithmicx thing I learned.

I've been an on-and-off user of LaTeX since the very, very beginning. Back in the dark days when the one laser printer that could render the images was in a closely-guarded secret location to prevent everyone from using it and exhausting the (expensive) toner cartridges.

A consequence of this is I think the various algorithm environments are a ton of fun. Pseudo-code with math embedded in it. It's marvelous. It's a pain in the neck with this clunky blogging package, so I can't easily show off the coolness. But. You can go to https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Algorithms to see some examples.

None of which have try/except blocks. Not a thing.

Why not? I suspect it's because "algorithmic" meant "Algol-60" for years. The language didn't have exceptions and so, the presentation of algorithms continues to this day without exceptions. 

What can one do?

This.

\algblock{Try}{EndTry}
\algcblock[Try]{Try}{Except}{EndTry}
\algcblockdefx{Try}{Except}{EndTry}
   [1][Exception]{\textbf{except} \texttt{#1}}

\algrenewtext{Try}{\textbf{try}}

This will extend the notation to add \Try, \Except, and \EndTry commands. I think I've done it all more-or-less correctly. I'm vague on where the \algnotext{EndTry} goes, but it seems to be needed in each \Try block to silence the \EndTry.

As far as I know, I'm the only person who seems to care. There seems to be little about this anywhere online. I'm guessing it's because the basics work perfectly, and no one wants this kind of weird add-on.