检查异常:

The exceptions which are checked by the compiler for smooth execution of the program at runtime are called Checked Exception. These occur at compile time. If these are not handled properly, they will give compile time error (Not Exception). All subclasses of Exception class except RuntimeException are Checked Exception. Hypothetical Example - Suppose you are leaving your house for the exam, but if you check whether you took your Hall Ticket at home(compile time) then there won't be any problem at Exam Hall(runtime).

未检查异常:

The exceptions which are not checked by the compiler are called Unchecked Exceptions. These occur at runtime. If these exceptions are not handled properly, they don’t give compile time error. But the program will be terminated prematurely at runtime. All subclasses of RunTimeException and Error are unchecked exceptions. Hypothetical Example - Suppose you are in your exam hall but somehow your school had a fire accident (means at runtime) where you can't do anything at that time but precautions can be made before (compile time).

受控异常在编译时由JVM检查，并与资源相关(文件/db/流/套接字等)。受控异常的动机是，在编译时，如果资源不可用，应用程序应该在catch/finally块中定义一个替代行为来处理这个异常。

未经检查的异常纯粹是编程错误、错误计算、空数据甚至业务逻辑中的失败都可能导致运行时异常。在代码中处理/捕获未检查的异常是绝对没问题的。

解释摘自http://coder2design.com/java-interview-questions/

Java distinguishes between two categories of exceptions (checked & unchecked). Java enforces a catch or declared requirement for checked exceptions. An exception's type determines whether an exception is checked or unchecked. All exception types that are direct or indirect subclasses of class RuntimeException are unchecked exception. All classes that inherit from class Exception but not RuntimeException are considered to be checked exceptions. Classes that inherit from class Error are considered to be unchecked. Compiler checks each method call and deceleration to determine whether the method throws checked exception. If so the compiler ensures the exception is caught or is declared in a throws clause. To satisfy the declare part of the catch-or-declare requirement, the method that generates the exception must provide a throws clause containing the checked-exception. Exception classes are defined to be checked when they are considered important enough to catch or declare.

关于未检查异常和已检查异常之间的区别，我最喜欢的描述来自Java教程的试用文章“未检查异常-争议”(很抱歉在这篇文章中介绍了所有基本的内容-但是，嘿，基本的有时是最好的):

这是底线原则:如果客户可以合理地 希望从异常中恢复，使其成为受控异常。如果 客户端不能做任何事情来从异常中恢复 未经检查的异常

“抛出哪种类型的异常”的核心是语义的(在某种程度上)，上面的引用提供了一个很好的指导方针(因此，我仍然被c#摆脱受控异常的概念所震撼——特别是Liskov认为它们有用)。

接下来的问题就变得合乎逻辑了:编译器希望我显式地响应哪些异常?你希望客户能从中恢复过来。

所有这些都是受控异常。未检查的异常是RuntimeException的子类。问题不在于如何处理它们，而在于你的代码是否应该抛出它们。如果你不想让编译器告诉你你还没有处理一个异常，那么你可以使用一个未检查的(RuntimeException的子类)异常。这些应该保存在你无法恢复的情况下，比如内存不足等。

所有异常都必须是检查异常。

Unchecked exceptions are unrestricted gotos. And unrestricted gotos are considered a bad thing. Unchecked exceptions break encapsulation. To process them correctly, all the functions in the call tree between the thrower and the catcher must be known to avoid bugs. Exceptions are errors in the function that throws them but not errors in the function that processes them. The purpose of exceptions is to give the program a second chance by deferring the decision of whether it's an error or not to another context. It's only in the other context can the correct decision be made.