What does a child class do in the context of inheritance?

In the context of inheritance, a child class is designed to build upon the functionality of a parent class. When a child class extends or modifies the behaviors of the parent class, it leverages the concepts of inheritance to both inherit attributes and methods and to introduce or customize functionality that is specific to the child class. This means it can use existing methods from the parent while also modifying them or adding new methods and attributes, thus enhancing or altering the behavior observed in the parent class.

This capability allows for the creation of a more specialized class that retains the characteristics of its predecessor while offering additional features or adjustments. This is a fundamental aspect of object-oriented programming, enabling code reuse and promoting a hierarchical structure that is both organized and efficient.

In contrast, the other options inaccurately describe the relationship between child and parent classes rather than capturing the essence of how inheritance is intended to work.