Which statement best describes an abstract class in object-oriented programming?

Which statement best describes an abstract class in object-oriented programming?

• A. A class that can be instantiated directly to create objects.
• B. A class that contains only static methods.
• C. A base class with its methods overwritten when a class is derived from the base class.
• D. A class that stores data but cannot have methods.

Answer: (C)

Abstract classes are built to be extended. They provide a shared template and may declare methods that must be implemented or customized by subclasses, so the concrete behavior comes from the derived classes through overriding. This fits the idea of a base class whose methods are overridden when a class is derived, because the derived classes supply the specific implementations for the inherited methods. You typically create objects from these concrete subclasses, not from the abstract base itself. Other descriptions miss the core idea: you don’t instantiate an abstract class directly; an abstract class isn’t limited to only static methods, and it can store data and include implemented methods as well as abstract ones.

Abstract classes are built to be extended. They provide a shared template and may declare methods that must be implemented or customized by subclasses, so the concrete behavior comes from the derived classes through overriding.

This fits the idea of a base class whose methods are overridden when a class is derived, because the derived classes supply the specific implementations for the inherited methods. You typically create objects from these concrete subclasses, not from the abstract base itself.

Other descriptions miss the core idea: you don’t instantiate an abstract class directly; an abstract class isn’t limited to only static methods, and it can store data and include implemented methods as well as abstract ones.