What do braces { } do in Java programming?

Braces in Java, represented by curly brackets { }, are primarily used to group statements into blocks. This grouping is essential for defining the body of control structures, such as loops (for, while) and conditionals (if, switch). When statements are enclosed within braces, they are treated as a single compound statement, which improves readability and allows for structured programming.

Moreover, braces can also be used to encapsulate code in methods and classes, indicating that the enclosed code belongs to a particular scope or functionality. This further supports the organization of code and facilitates better maintenance and understanding. Although braces do have implications for variable scope and can appear in class definitions, their primary function is to group multiple statements together, making option B the best choice.