What does object-oriented programming (OOP) emphasize?

Object-oriented programming (OOP) emphasizes organizing software design around data or objects, which represent real-world entities. This approach enables developers to create models that closely align with how users perceive and interact with data in their applications. OOP structures code into classes and objects, allowing for encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism. Encapsulation helps to hide the internal state of the object and only expose necessary functionalities through methods. Inheritance allows new classes to acquire properties and behavior from existing classes, enhancing code reusability and organization. Polymorphism enables objects to be treated as instances of their parent class, improving flexibility in code.

By focusing on objects which can contain both data and behavior, OOP promotes a more intuitive way to build and manage complex software systems, making it easier to understand, maintain, and extend applications over time.