What is slicing in Python?

Slicing in Python refers to the process of extracting a specific portion of a sequence, such as a list, tuple, or string, using a defined range of indices. This powerful feature allows you to select a contiguous segment of the sequence by specifying a start index, an end index, and an optional step value.

For example, if you have a list defined as numbers = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5], using slicing syntax like numbers[1:4] would return the sublist [1, 2, 3]. Here, 1 is the start index (inclusive) and 4 is the end index (exclusive), and Python extracts the elements from index 1 to index 3.

This capability makes slicing a fundamental and frequently used feature in Python programming, enabling developers to manipulate and access data efficiently without creating additional copies of the sequences. The other options represent different operations that do not align with the concept of slicing, such as combining sequences, checking for existence, or duplicating sequence data.