What is the purpose of the finally block?

The finally block in Java is used to execute code that must run regardless of whether an exception was thrown or not after a try-catch block. It is useful for releasing resources, closing streams, database connections, and other cleanup operations.

Example:

try {
    // code that might throw an exception
} catch (Exception e) {
    // exception handling
} finally {
    // code that always executes
    // for example, closing a file or connection
}

Thus, finally guarantees the execution of important cleanup code, enhancing the reliability of the program.