libunwind ☆

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Description:
C API for determining the call-chain of a program

Type: Formula | Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Developer tools

Tags: unwinding backtrace debugging c-api diagnostics

Install: brew install libunwind

About:
Libunwind is a portable and efficient C programming interface (API) for determining the call-chain of a program. It enables stack unwinding and backtracing across various architectures and operating systems, which is essential for debugging and exception handling. This library provides a foundation for building crash reporters and diagnostic tools.

Key Features:

Portable across multiple architectures (IA-64, x86, ARM, MIPS, etc.)
Supports both local and remote unwinding of stack frames
Provides a simple C API for walking the stack and accessing register states
Enables efficient crash detection and backtrace generation

Use Cases:

Building custom crash reporting and diagnostic tools
Implementing exception handling in language runtimes
Profiling and performance analysis of C/C++ applications
Debugging complex call chains in system-level software

Alternatives:

Backtrace – A commercial platform offering comprehensive crash analytics, whereas Libunwind is a foundational open-source library for unwinding.
libexecinfo – A simpler backtrace library primarily for BSD systems, while Libunwind offers more portability and detailed frame information.

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Oct 27, 2024 12:49pm		0	VERSION_BUMP	ed135b69