SEGMENTATION FAULT Meaning and
Definition
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A segmentation fault is a type of error that occurs in computer programs when a process tries to access a memory location that it is not allowed to access. It is a specific kind of runtime error known as an access violation. This error usually arises due to programming bugs that result in a process attempting to read from or write to a protected or invalid memory location.
Segmentation faults are quite common in programming languages like C and C++, where developers have direct control over memory management. When a program encounters a segmentation fault, it usually crashes or terminates abruptly, causing data loss or unexpected behavior.
The term "segmentation" comes from the memory management technique used by operating systems to allocate and protect memory regions called segments. Each segment consists of a specific range of memory addresses with specific permissions. Usually, segments are protected from each other to prevent malicious or unintended accesses.
A segmentation fault can occur for various reasons, including dereferencing a null pointer, attempting to access memory outside the allocated memory block, or stack overflow. These faults are often difficult to debug as they often do not result in immediate program failure, but rather cause unpredictable program behavior or crashes. Thus, programmers utilize debugging tools and techniques like core dumps and stack trace analysis to identify the root cause and resolve segmentation faults.
Etymology of SEGMENTATION FAULT
The term "segmentation fault" originated in the field of computer science. It refers to a specific type of error that occurs when a program attempts to access memory that it is not allowed to access.
The etymology of the term can be traced back to the early days of computing, when memory in computers was divided into segments. A segment is a range of memory addresses reserved for a specific purpose, such as storing data or instructions. Each segment had its own permissions, which determined whether a program could read from or write to that segment.
A "segmentation fault" occurs when a program tries to access a memory address outside the segment that it is supposed to access, or when it tries to perform an operation that is not allowed by the segment's permissions. When this happens, the operating system detects the unauthorized access and terminates the program, giving an error message, which is typically referred to as a "segmentation fault".
