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

By creating a new scope they can be used to define local variables in a switch statement.

e.g.

switch (i)
{
    case 0 :
        int j = 0;   // error!
        break;

vs.

switch (i)
{
    case 0 :
    {
        int j = 0;   // ok!
    }
    break;