What characterizes an object-oriented programming language?

An object-oriented programming (OOP) language is characterized by its use of objects as fundamental building blocks. These objects encapsulate both data (attributes) and behavior (methods or functions) related to that data, allowing for organized and modular programming. This encapsulation promotes reusability and maintainability, as the internal state of objects can be hidden from the outside, exposing only necessary interfaces for interaction.

In the context of OOP, classes serve as blueprints for creating objects, allowing for inheritance and polymorphism, which are key concepts in this paradigm. This approach fundamentally shifts the focus from functions and procedures to the interplay of objects, where the interaction between different objects drives the structure and behavior of the software.

The other choices present attributes associated with different programming paradigms or wrong specifications. Functions as building blocks are characteristic of procedural programming rather than object-oriented. The prohibition of classes is contrary to the very essence of OOP since classes are integral to its structure. Additionally, compiling directly to machine code refers more to how a language is executed rather than its underlying paradigm, and many OOP languages interpret or compile in various ways based on the implementation. Thus, the defining feature of OOP is indeed the organization of code into objects that encapsulate data and