What happens when a method is declared as final in a parent class?

• A. It cannot be inherited by other classes
• B. It can still be overridden
• C. It cannot be overridden by subclasses
• D. It can only be accessed within the same class

Answer: (C)

When a method is declared as final in a parent class, it signifies that this method cannot be overridden by any subclasses. This ensures that the specific implementation of the method in the parent class is preserved, providing a guarantee that the behavior defined by that method remains stable and unchanged in any derived classes. This is useful when you want to ensure that certain functionality remains consistent across the inheritance hierarchy.

Declaring a method as final is a common practice to prevent subclasses from altering its core functionality, which can be particularly important for maintaining the integrity of certain critical operations. By doing this, the developer can enforce a contract that the final method's behavior remains as defined in the base class.

In contrast, options that suggest the method can be inherited, overridden, or only accessed within the same class do not align with the purpose of a final method, highlighting why they do not accurately capture the implications of this modifier.