title: Avoid nested try-catch blocks
body: <p>I have the following bit of Java code:</p>
  
  <pre><code>SimpleDateFormat df = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy mm:HH");
  Date date;
  try {
       date = df.parse(userString);
   } catch (ParseException e) {
       date = df.parse("07/12/2016 01:00");
       LOGGER.error("Could not parse date, reverting to default");
   }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>So, what I'm trying to do is to parse the user input as a date and, if that fails, to replace it with a default date.</p>
  
  <p>However, the second <code>df.parse()</code> requires a try-catch of its own, even though that's a value I know for certain will work. It doesn't make any sense for the second <code>parse</code> not to work and if it indeed doesn't, I have nothing more to do, I might as well terminate the program because the world has ended. :)</p>
  
  <p>Is there a way to avoid the need for a second <code>try-catch</code> block?</p>