What is the purpose of anonymous { } blocks in C style languages?

Question

What is the purpose of anonymous { } blocks in C style languages (C, C++, C#)

Example -

void function()
{

  {
    int i = 0;
    i = i + 1;
  }

          


        

Answer 1

Brackets designate an area of scope - anything declared within the brackets is invisible outside of them.

Furthermore, in C++ an object allocated on the stack (e.g. without the use of 'new') will be destructed when it goes out of scope.

In some cases it can also be a way to highlight a particular piece of a function that the author feels is worthy of attention for people looking at the source. Whether this is a good use or not is debatable, but I have seen it done.