Which of the following describes a static data structure?

A static data structure is characterized by its fixed size, which is determined at the time of creation and does not change throughout the lifetime of the data structure. This means that once a static data structure is defined, such as an array, it cannot grow or shrink in response to changing data requirements during runtime. This fixed nature allows for efficient memory allocation and access since the memory layout is predetermined, but it also means that developers must estimate the size needed in advance.

While static data structures might consume less memory in certain scenarios compared to dynamic structures, the key feature is their size constraint, not the amount of memory they consume. They can be faster to access due to their simplicity and the contiguous memory allocation that allows direct indexing, but this is context-dependent. Therefore, the correct choice accurately defines a key attribute of a static data structure.