What is object-oriented programming?

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that organizes software design around data, or objects, rather than functions and logic. An object can be defined as a data structure that contains both data, in the form of fields (often known as attributes), and code, in the form of procedures (often known as methods). This approach enables developers to model real-world entities more closely in their code, promoting greater flexibility and reusability.

The central concepts of OOP include encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism, which allow for more maintainable and scalable code. By using these principles, programmers can create modules that interact with each other through well-defined interfaces, making the software less prone to errors and easier to manage over time.

The other choices do not accurately capture what OOP entails. For instance, developing sequential programs relates more to a procedural programming approach, while scripting web pages falls under web development methodologies rather than OOP specifically. Lastly, a standard for hardware coding does not pertain to programming paradigms and is unrelated to the object-oriented model.