ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Reachability problem

So imagine you are trying to get to your friend's house for a playdate. But you don't know how to get there because you're not familiar with the neighborhood. You have a map, but you're not sure if there are any roads or obstacles that will prevent you from reaching your friend's house. That's what we call a reachability problem.

A reachability problem is like a puzzle where you have to figure out if it's possible to go from one place to another, given the paths (like roads, bridges, etc.) available to you. It could be a real-life situation like getting to your friend's house, or it could be a computer problem where you're trying to determine if a certain set of instructions can actually be executed.

In computer science, the reachability problem is a big concern because it helps us understand if a program or system can actually do what it's supposed to do. For example, if you're designing a healthcare app that helps keep track of patients' medical records, you need to make sure that doctors and nurses can actually access those records. If there's a reachability problem, that means there's some kind of obstacle that could prevent people from accessing important information.

To solve a reachability problem, you have to look at all the possible paths and obstacles that could affect your journey. You might have to try different routes, or figure out how to work around certain obstacles. It can be challenging, but it's also really important for making sure that everything works the way it should.