Question: What is the purpose of the transient keyword in Java?

A) It indicates that a variable should not be serialized, meaning its value will not be included when the object is serialized into a byte stream.
B) It ensures that a variable is automatically initialized to its default value when an object is created.
C) It makes the variable accessible only within the class it is defined in, thus limiting its visibility to other classes.
D) It allows the variable to be shared among all instances of the class, making it a class-level variable rather than instance-level.