Difference between Unchecked exception or runtime exception

As stated by their name, unchecked exceptions are not checked at compile-time which means that the compiler doesn't require methods to catch or to specify (with a throws) them. Classes belonging to this category are detailed in the section 11.2 Compile-Time Checking of Exceptions of the JLS:

The unchecked exceptions classes are the class RuntimeException and its subclasses, and the class Error and its subclasses. All other exception classes are checked exception classes. The Java API defines a number of exception classes, both checked and unchecked. Additional exception classes, both checked and unchecked, may be declared by programmers. See §11.5 for a description of the exception class hierarchy and some of the exception classes defined by the Java API and Java virtual machine.

The following picture illustrates the Exception hierarchy:

The class Error and its subclasses are exceptions from which ordinary programs are not ordinarily expected to recover and, as explained in 11.5 The Exception Hierarchy:

The class Error is a separate subclass of Throwable, distinct from Exception in the class hierarchy, to allow programs to use the idiom:

} catch (Exception e) {

to catch all exceptions from which recovery may be possible without catching errors from which recovery is