Kinds of Signals - The GNU C Library

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#### 24.1.1 Some Kinds of Signals

A signal reports the occurrence of an exceptional event. These are some of the events that can cause (or generate, or raise) a signal:

- A program error such as dividing by zero or issuing an address outside the valid range.
- A user request to interrupt or terminate the program. Most environments are set up to let a user suspend the program by typing `C-z`, or terminate it with `C-c`. Whatever key sequence is used, the operating system sends the proper signal to interrupt the process.
- The termination of a child process.
- Expiration of a timer or alarm.
- A call to `kill` or `raise` by the same process.
- A call to `kill` from another process. Signals are a limited but useful form of interprocess communication.
- An attempt to perform an I/O operation that cannot be done. Examples are reading from a pipe that has no writer (see Pipes and FIFOs), and reading or writing to a terminal in certain situations (see Job Control).

Each of these kinds of events (excepting explicit calls to `kill` and `raise`) generates its own particular kind of signal. The various kinds of signals are listed and described in detail in Standard Signals.