Final answer:
The try/except structure is used in programming to handle exceptions, which are unexpected errors or events. It consists of a try block containing the potentially problematic code, and an except block for catching and handling exceptions. This structure is crucial for error handling in programming.
Step-by-step explanation:
In computer programming, the statements try and except are used to handle exceptions, which are unexpected errors or events that may occur during program execution. The try block contains the code that may raise an exception, while the except block is used to catch and handle the exception. The try/except structure allows the program to continue running even if an exception occurs, providing a fallback plan to deal with errors.
For example, if you have a piece of code that divides two numbers, you can use try/except to handle situations where the denominator is zero, causing a ZeroDivisionError. By using a try/except block, you can handle this exception and perform an alternate action, such as displaying an error message or asking the user for a different input.
The try/except structure is an essential part of error handling in programming, allowing developers to anticipate and deal with potential issues that may arise during execution.