I am trying to use exceptions for the first time but even though it is quite a simple example I just cannot get it to compile, I have looked at several examples and tried coding it in many, many different ways but I am still not even sure exactly where the problem is because I get namemangling when I introduce the catch/try/throw anyway here is my code hopefully it is something really stupid :) #include "Surface.h" #include "SDL_Image.h" using namespace std; SDL_Surface* surface::Load(string fileName){ SDL_Surface* loadedSurface = IMG_Load(fileName.c_str()); if(loadedSurface == 0) throw 0; //Convert surface to same format as display loadedSurface = SDL_DisplayFormatAlpha(loadedSurface); return loadedSurface; } #include "GameState.h" #include "Surface.h" #include<iostream> using namespace std; GameState::GameState(string fileName){ try{ stateWallpaper_ = surface::Load(fileName); } catch(int& e){ cerr << "Could not load " << fileName << endl; } } Thanks in advance for any help! EDIT: Sorry I forgot to post the error message: It is In function `ZN14GameStateIntroC1Ev':| -undefined reference to `__gxx_personality_sj0'| -undefined reference to `_Unwind_SjLj_Register'| -undefined reference to `_Unwind_SjLj_Unregister'| In function `ZN14GameStateIntroC1Ev':| undefined reference to `_Unwind_SjLj_Resume'| In function `ZN14GameStateIntroC2Ev':| -undefined reference to `__gxx_personality_sj0'| -undefined reference to `_Unwind_SjLj_Register'| -undefined reference to `_Unwind_SjLj_Unregister'| obj\Release\GameStateIntro.o||In function `ZN14GameStateIntroC2Ev':| C:\Program Files (x86)\CodeBlocks\MinGW\bin\..\lib\gcc\mingw32\3.4.5\..\..\..\..\include\c++\3.4.5\ext\new_allocator.h|69|undefined reference to `_Unwind_SjLj_Resume'| C:\MinGW\lib\libSDLmain.a(SDL_win32_main.o)||In function `redirect_output':| \Users\slouken\release\SDL\SDL-1.2.15\.\src\main\win32\SDL_win32_main.c|219|undefined reference to `SDL_strlcpy'| \Users\slouken\release\SDL\SDL-1.2.15\.\src\main\win32\SDL_win32_main.c|220|undefined reference to `SDL_strlcat'| \Users\slouken\release\SDL\SDL-1.2.15\.\src\main\win32\SDL_win32_main.c|243|undefined reference to `SDL_strlcpy'| \Users\slouken\release\SDL\SDL-1.2.15\.\src\main\win32\SDL_win32_main.c|244|undefined reference to `SDL_strlcat'| C:\MinGW\lib\libSDLmain.a(SDL_win32_main.o)||In function `console_main':| \Users\slouken\release\SDL\SDL-1.2.15\.\src\main\win32\SDL_win32_main.c|296|undefined reference to `SDL_strlcpy'| \Users\slouken\release\SDL\SDL-1.2.15\.\src\main\win32\SDL_win32_main.c|301|undefined reference to `SDL_GetError'| \Users\slouken\release\SDL\SDL-1.2.15\.\src\main\win32\SDL_win32_main.c|312|undefined reference to `SDL_SetModuleHandle'| C:\MinGW\lib\libSDLmain.a(SDL_win32_main.o)||In function `WinMain@16':| \Users\slouken\release\SDL\SDL-1.2.15\.\src\main\win32\SDL_win32_main.c|354|undefined reference to `SDL_getenv'| \Users\slouken\release\SDL\SDL-1.2.15\.\src\main\win32\SDL_win32_main.c|386|undefined reference to `SDL_strlcpy'| C:\MinGW\lib\libSDLmain.a(SDL_win32_main.o)||In function `cleanup':| \Users\slouken\release\SDL\SDL-1.2.15\.\src\main\win32\SDL_win32_main.c|158|undefined reference to `SDL_Quit'| **