What is Segmentation fault (SIGSEGV)?

A segmentation fault is when your computer tries to do something it shouldn't, like reaching into a drawer that's not open.

Imagine you're playing with building blocks. Each block has its own spot in the box. When you want to take a block out, you have to check if that spot is open. If it isn’t, and you still try to grab the block, you might trip over something or knock down your whole tower, that’s like a segmentation fault.

Your computer has a special kind of memory called RAM, which works like a big shelf where everything is stored. Each item on the shelf has its own place. If a program tries to use a spot on the shelf that doesn’t belong to it, or is already taken by something else, it causes a segmentation fault.

Think of your favorite toy robot. When you press a button, it follows instructions from inside its brain (like a computer). If the instructions are wrong, like telling the robot to reach into a drawer that doesn’t exist, it might stop working or even crash. That’s just like how a segmentation fault can make a program on your computer stop suddenly.