What is the purpose of a try statement in programming?

The purpose of a try statement in programming is to catch exceptions thrown during program execution. It is a key component of exception handling, allowing developers to define a block of code where exceptions may occur. Within this block, the code is executed normally. If an exception is thrown, control is transferred to a corresponding catch block, which can handle the exception and prevent the program from crashing. This mechanism allows for more robust software, where expected and unexpected errors can be managed gracefully during runtime, enhancing the overall user experience and application stability.

The other options represent different functionalities in programming, such as defining variables, declaring methods, or executing loops, which are unrelated to the specific role of the try statement in exception management.