why would I use the throw statement for?

Answer 1

Use it to throw an exception.

You could use it with your defind exception too.

see the example how to throw WrongAnswer exception in below:

class WrongAnswer extends Exception {
public WrongAnswer(String message){
super(message);
}
}

class Question{
public void isCorrect(String answer) throws WrongAnswer {

if (answer == "bird"){
System.out.println("Correct!");
}else {
throw new WrongAnswer(answer + " is a wrong answer");
}
}
}

public class Program
{
public static void main(String[] args) {

Question q = new Question();

try{
q.isCorrect("Monkey");
} catch(WrongAnswer wa){
System.out.println(wa.getMessage());
}

}
}

Answer 2

You can use it to throw an exception