How "finally" works in Python [3.14 update]

Python's finally block executes code regardless of whether exceptions occur, making it essential for cleanup operations like closing files or sending crash reports. The finally block always has the final word, overriding return statements from try/except blocks. Python 3.14 will introduce syntax warnings for return statements in finally blocks to prevent unexpected behavior. The finally block is guaranteed to execute unless something beyond Python's scope occurs, such as system shutdown.