A class maintains its own separate copy of which type of variable?

The option indicating that a class maintains its own separate copy of instance variables is indeed correct. In object-oriented programming, instance variables are particular to instances (or objects) of a class. Each created object of that class holds its own unique set of values for these variables, meaning that changes to one object's instance variables do not affect another object's instance variables.

For example, if you have a class called "Car," and you create two different instances (like car1 and car2), each of these instances can have different values for instance variables such as color, make, or model. Therefore, when car1 is red and car2 is blue, each car retains its own copy of these specific variable values. This encapsulation allows each object to maintain its state independently, which is a fundamental principle of object-oriented programming.

The other types of variables mentioned, such as static, class, and global, do not operate in the same way. Static variables are shared among all instances of a class. Class variables also belong to the class rather than any specific instance. Global variables, on the other hand, are accessible throughout the entire program but are not tied specifically to any class or instance. This distinction is