In object-oriented programming and design, a class serves as a blueprint or template for creating objects. It defines a common structure (attributes) and behavior (methods) that represent a real-world concept or thing. For example, a class named Car would define the general properties of all cars. Specific, individual cars (e.g., a red Toyota with a specific VIN) are then created as instances, or objects, of the Car class. Therefore, a class is the representation from which multiple specific instances are derived.

B. Procedures: A procedure is a sequence of programming instructions that performs a specific task. It represents an action or process, not a template for creating instances of a thing.

C. Object: An object is a single, concrete instance of a class. It is one of the "specific instances" but not the general representation or blueprint for all such instances.

D. Links: A link represents a connection or relationship between objects. It does not represent the "thing" itself but rather the association between instances.

1. Object Management Group (OMG). (2017). Unified Modeling Language (UML) Specification, Version 2.5.1.

Section 9.2.4, Semantics - Classes: "A Class describes a set of objects that have the same features (attributes and operations). An object is an instance of a Class." This official standard defines a class as the descriptor for a set of object instances.

2. Guttag, J. V. (2013). Introduction to Computation and Programming Using Python. MIT Press.

Chapter 8, Section 8.1, Abstract Data Types and Classes: "A class is a collection of data and a set of methods for operating on that data... An object is a particular instance of a class." This university-level text clearly distinguishes a class as the template and an object as the instance.

3. Booch, G., Rumbaugh, J., & Jacobson, I. (2005). The Unified Modeling Language User Guide (2nd ed.). Addison-Wesley Professional.

Chapter 5, Classes: "A class is a description of a set of objects that share the same attributes, operations, relationships, and semantics. An object is an instance of a class." This foundational text on software modeling reinforces the definition.