In programming, which concept is described as a mechanism for reusing methods from a parent class?

• A. Encapsulation
• B. Inheritance
• C. Polymorphism
• D. Abstraction

Answer: (B)

Inheritance is the mechanism that allows a class to reuse methods from a parent class. By establishing an is-a relationship, a subclass automatically has the parent’s methods and fields, so you can call and reuse them without rewriting code. You can also customize behavior by overriding methods in the subclass, enabling specialized functionality while still leveraging the inherited implementation.

Encapsulation focuses on bundling data and the methods that operate on that data and controlling access to them. Abstraction is about exposing essential features while hiding implementation details. Polymorphism enables different classes to be treated through a common interface, often involving methods that behave differently in different subclasses, but the direct mechanism for reusing a parent’s methods is inheritance.