criterion ☆

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Description:
Cross-platform C and C++ unit testing framework for the 21st century

Type: Formula | Latest Version: 2.4.3@0 | Tracked Since: Dec 17, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Developer tools

Tags: testing c cpp unit-testing framework tdd

Install: brew install criterion

About:
Criterion is a modern, cross-platform C and C++ unit testing framework with a C99-compatible API. It provides test isolation using subprocesses and automatic test detection, enabling robust and scalable testing workflows. Its rich feature set includes parameterized tests, benchmarking, and flexible assertion handling.

Key Features:

Automatic test discovery and registration
Test isolation via subprocess execution
Parameterized and theory-driven tests
Integrated performance benchmarking
Rich assertion library with detailed failure reporting

Use Cases:

Unit testing C/C++ libraries and applications
Running performance benchmarks as part of CI/CD
Testing with multiple input sets using parameterization

Alternatives:

GoogleTest – More widely used in C++ ecosystems; requires more boilerplate and lacks built-in subprocess isolation
Unity – Lightweight C testing framework; simpler but fewer features like parameterization or benchmarking

License: MIT

Dependencies: libgit2, nanomsg, nanopb

Bottles available for: arm64_tahoe, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, sonoma, arm64_linux, x86_64_linux

Version History

Detected	Rev	Change	Commit
Sep 13, 2025 8:06pm	2	VERSION_BUMP	8a541e17
Nov 17, 2024 8:37pm	1	VERSION_BUMP	d398d6ae
Sep 13, 2024 5:27pm	1	VERSION_BUMP	7486db2e
Jul 17, 2024 1:45pm	1	VERSION_BUMP	87dfb7e8
Sep 3, 2023 3:37am	3	VERSION_BUMP	5056eeaa
Mar 13, 2023 10:13am	2	VERSION_BUMP	14e414d8
Mar 13, 2023 10:12am	2	VERSION_BUMP	b084716e
Nov 30, 2022 5:58am	1	VERSION_BUMP	b80b82ca