What does the `slice()` method do in JavaScript?

The slice() method creates a new array that contains a portion of the elements from an original array. The method takes two optional parameters that specify the starting and ending indices of the section of the array to be extracted. The new array includes elements starting from the index specified as the first argument up to, but not including, the index specified as the second argument. If the second argument is omitted, slice() returns all elements from the starting index to the end of the original array.

This functionality allows for easy manipulation and retrieval of specific parts of an array without modifying the original array, maintaining immutability, which is a key aspect of JavaScript's handling of data structures.