What is an exception in programming?

An exception in programming refers to an unexpected event that occurs during program execution. This can happen due to various reasons such as trying to divide by zero, attempting to access a file that does not exist, or running out of memory. When such an event occurs, the normal flow of the program is disrupted. By capturing these exceptions, programmers can implement error handling to respond appropriately, ensuring that the program can either recover from the error or fail gracefully without crashing completely.

In contrast, the other options do not accurately define what an exception is. A specific sequence of instructions in code does not capture the idea of an unexpected event. Comments made by the programmer serve to document the code but are not related to runtime behavior. A method for data storage refers to techniques for saving data, which is entirely different from handling unexpected events during execution.