How to avoid SIGSEGV Error in Insertion Sort - c

Question

I am trying to implement Insertion sort algorithm in C.
But all I get is SIGSEGV error in online IDEs and the output doesn't show up in Code::Blocks. How to avoid Such errors.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main()
{
/* Here i and j are for loop counters, temp for swapping
count for total number of elements,array for elements*/
int i, j, temp, count;
printf("How many numbers are you going to enter");
scanf("%d", &count);
int n[20];
printf("Enter %d elements", count);
// storing elements in the array
for(i = 0; i < count; i++) {
scanf("%d", n[i]);
}
// Implementation of insertion sort algorithm
for(i = 0; i < count; i++) {
temp = n[i];
j = i - 1;
while(temp < n[j]) {
n[j+1] = n[j];
j = j - 1;
}
n[j+1] = temp;
}
printf("Order of sorted elements");
for(i = 0; i < count; i++) {
printf("%d", n[i]);
}
return 0;
}

Answer 1

There are a couple of problems with your code. First of all, what is a SIGSEGV error? Well, it's another name for the good old Segmentation fault error, which is basically the error you get when accessing invalid memory (that is, memory you are not allowed to access).
tl;dr: change scanf("%d",n[i]); to scanf("%d",&n[i]);. You're trying to read the initial values with scanf("%d",n[i]);, this raises a segmentation fault error because scanf expects addresses in which put the values read, but what you're really doing is passing the value of n[i] as if it were an address (which it's not, because, as you did not set any value for it yet, it's pretty much just memory garbage). More on that here.
tl;dr: change int n[20]; to int n[count]. Your array declaration int n[20]; is going to store at most 20 integers, what happens if someone wants to insert 21 or more values? Your program reserved a certain stack (memory) space, if you exceed that space, then you're going to stumble upon another program's space and the police (kernel) will arrest you (segmentation fault). Hint: try inserting 21 and then 100 values and see what happens.
tl;dr: change for(i = 0; i < count; i++) { to for(i = 1; i <= count; i++) {. This one is a logic problem with your indexes, you are starting at i = 0 and going until i = count - 1 which would be correct in most array iteration cases, but as j assumes values of indexes before i, you need i to start from 1 (so j is 0, otherwise j = -1 in the first iteration (not a valid index)).
My final code is as follows. Hope it helped, happy coding!
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main() {
/*Here i and j are for loop counters,temp for swapping
count for total number of elements,array for elements*/
int i, j, temp, count;
printf("How many numbers are you going to enter?\n");
scanf("%d",&count);
int n[count];
printf("Enter %d elements\n",count);
//storing elements in the array
for(i = 0; i < count; i++) {
scanf("%d", &n[i]);
}
//Implementation of insertion sort algorithm
for(i = 1; i <= count; i++) {
temp = n[i];
j = i-1;
while(temp < n[j]) {
n[j+1] = n[j];
j--;
}
n[j+1] = temp;
}
printf("Order of sorted elements\n");
for(i = 0; i < count; i++) {
printf("%d\n",n[i]);
}
return 0;
}
Edit: If you're having trouble with online IDEs, consider running your programs locally, it saves a lot of time, plus: you never know what kernel version or magic the online IDEs are using to run your code (trust me, when you're coding in C -- fairly low level language, these things make a difference sometimes). I like to go all root style using Vim as text editor and gcc for compiling as well as gdb for debugging.