Explain what the Object class represents in the context of object-oriented programming.

In object-oriented programming (OOP), the Object class is the base class from which all other classes inherit. In Java, for example, the java.lang.Object class is the root of the class hierarchy. It provides basic methods such as toString(), equals(), hashCode(), clone(), and others, which can be overridden in subclasses for specific behavior. This ensures a unified interface and basic functionality for all objects in the program.