What is inheritance in object-oriented programming?

Inheritance in object-oriented programming is a fundamental concept that allows one class, often referred to as a subclass or derived class, to take on attributes and behaviors (methods) from another class, known as the parent class or base class. This mechanism promotes code reusability, enabling developers to create new classes with minimal redundancy by building upon existing code.

When a class inherits from another, it gains access to the properties and methods defined in the parent class, which it can use or override as needed. For instance, if there is a base class called "Animal" with a method "speak," a subclass like "Dog" can inherit this method, allowing it to adopt the same functionality while potentially expanding or refining it to suit the subclass's specific behavior. This hierarchical structure supports a clean and organized approach to writing code, minimizing duplication and enhancing maintainability.

The other choices do not accurately represent the concept of inheritance. Simply copying methods is a different process that doesn’t capture the essence of relational hierarchy or behavior sharing. A class without methods does not have functionality to inherit, and while optimization might be a goal in programming, it does not specifically define what inheritance is.