What is the purpose of the try-finally structure in Java?

Used to ensure that a block of code is executed regardless of whether an exception occurs in the try block or not. The main purpose is to release resources (closing files, network connections, rolling back transactions, etc.).

Example:

// Releasing resources
try {
    // Working with a resource (e.g., a file)
    // An exception may occur (e.g., FileNotFoundException)
} finally {
    // Code here to close the resource
    // Always executed
}

If an exception occurs in the try block:

1. Execution of try is interrupted.
2. The finally block executes.
3. The exception is propagated further.

If there is no exception:

1. Execution of try completes successfully.
2. The finally block executes.

The try-with-resources variant is preferable for automatically closing resources that implement AutoCloseable.