What is inheritance in OOP?

Inheritance in object-oriented programming (OOP) is a fundamental concept that allows a new class to derive properties and behaviors from an existing class. When a class inherits from another, it gains all the attributes (data members) and methods (functions) of that parent class, which promotes code reusability and establishes a natural hierarchy between classes. This means the derived class can use and extend the functionalities of the base class, allowing developers to create a more modular and organized code structure.

For example, if you have a base class called "Animal" with general attributes and methods, you can create a derived class called "Dog" that inherits from "Animal." The "Dog" class will have access to all the properties and methods of "Animal," as well as the ability to add its own specific features. This inheritance promotes the idea of "is-a" relationships (a dog is an animal) and supports polymorphism, where the derived class can override methods of the base class if needed.

The other choices don't accurately represent the core concept of inheritance. Merging classes does not capture the essence of how inheritance works in OOP. Creating multiple instances relates more to object instantiation rather than inheritance. Restricting access to class members pertains to encapsulation