What does inheritance mean in the context of OOP?

Inheritance in the context of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) refers to the ability of a new class, often called a subclass or derived class, to acquire properties and methods from an existing class, known as a superclass or base class. This creates a hierarchical relationship between classes, allowing for code reusability and the establishment of a clear structure in programming.

With inheritance, the subclass can utilize the attributes and behaviors (methods) defined in the superclass, enabling programmers to extend and specialize existing code without needing to rewrite it. This allows developers to create more complex systems while maintaining a cleaner and more manageable codebase. For example, if there is a class called "Animal" that has properties like "name" and methods like "speak," a subclass "Dog" can inherit from "Animal" and add its own properties or methods, such as "breed" and "fetch."

The other options do not accurately define inheritance. Combining multiple classes into one refers to composition or aggregation, not inheritance. Storing data relates more closely to data structures or databases rather than OOP concepts. Optimizing coding time is a benefit of using various programming techniques and methodologies, but it specifically does not address the core concept of inheritance.