A Dumb Introduction to z3. Exploring the world of constraint solvers with very simple examples.

Posted by M1M1R0N@reddit | programming | View on Reddit | 2 comments

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HosseinKakavand@reddit

Nice on ramp. Consider a short section contrasting SAT vs SMT, and how z3py models ints, reals, sets, and bitvectors. Add a practical mini case, scheduling staff under constraints or validating feature flags. Show Z3 generating counterexamples for invariants and how to property test around them. A “when to use Z3 vs brute force” checklist helps newcomers.

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JoJoModding@reddit

While z3 calls itself a "theorem prover," I would not call such tools "theorem provers" in general. They should be called SMT solvers or constraint solvers. While z3 can, in theory, solve theorems of more complicated statements involving quantifiers, in practice it is rather bad at it, and also the mode where it actually produces a proof is rarely used. In any case, the theorems it can prove are usually straightforward.

Also the article is not using them to prove any theorems, just to solve constraints. Which is how solvers like these intend to be used.