CBMC vs cvc5

CBMC is a bounded model checker for C and C++ programs. It explores execution paths to check assertions, including array bounds, pointer safety, exceptions, and some undefined behavior such as signed integer overflow. Its analysis unwinds loops before sending the resulting equation to a decision procedure, and inputs may need a bounded size. The repository lists C89, C99, most of C11, C17, C23, GCC and Visual Studio extensions, and SystemC through Scoot; the listed input languages also include Java bytecode. CBMC supports contracts and can produce counterexamples. Its incremental SMT2 backend works with SMT-LIB 2.6-compliant solvers, with Z3 and CVC5 as examples. Distribution options include Homebrew instructions for macOS, Ubuntu DEB packages, Windows MSI installers, and Docker images. goto-cc can replace gcc or cl.exe in Makefiles to collect project models. The guide discusses routine development and continuous integration use. CBMC is free under the 4-clause BSD license.

cvc5 is a free, open-source solver for satisfiability modulo theories problems. It determines whether first-order formulas are satisfiable or valid across combinations of background theories, including arrays, bit-vectors, floating-point numbers, arithmetic, and strings. It also has a Syntax-Guided Synthesis engine for synthesizing functions against those theories.

The solver can run as a standalone command-line tool or be used as a library, with C++, C, Java, and Python APIs. Its binary accepts SMT-LIB v2 and SyGuS-IF input, and it can produce proofs and unsatisfiable cores to explain unsatisfiability results. The project links to an online interface for running SMT-LIB scripts and provides source releases and binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows. cvc5 is led jointly by Stanford University and the University of Iowa. Research and commercial use are described as essentially unrestricted. The default license is modified BSD; using optional GPLv3 dependencies makes the combined work subject to GPLv3.