In OOP, what is inheritance?

Inheritance is a fundamental concept in object-oriented programming (OOP) that allows for the creation of new classes based on existing classes. This mechanism enables a new class, often referred to as a derived or child class, to inherit properties and behaviors (attributes and methods) from an existing class, known as the base or parent class.

This feature promotes code reuse, making it easier to extend and maintain code because the derived class can utilize the existing functionalities of the parent class without having to rewrite them. Additionally, the derived class can override or extend the functionalities to implement specialized behavior, which enhances the flexibility and organization of the code.

Using inheritance, developers can create a hierarchy of classes that shares a common interface and behavior, making the software design more intuitive and manageable. This structure supports polymorphism, where one interface can be used for different types of objects, thereby allowing for dynamic method resolution.

The other choices do not accurately reflect the concept of inheritance. For example, creating interfaces pertains to defining a contract for classes without implementation, which is not the same as deriving new classes. Object initialization is about creating instances of classes rather than the relationship between classes. Abstract data types relate to how data types can be defined in terms of their behavior and interfaces rather than