assert() is always ignored

[graudtv]

There is a couple of places in simulator, there macro assert() is used. But the project is build so that NDEBUG is always defined, so assert() is always ignored (even in unit-tests)
I've tried running cmake with cmake build-type=Debug ..., it doesn't help too. Writing assert(0) in any place doesn't crash the program

[pavelkryukov]

But the project is build so that NDEBUG is always defined

This is by design.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11778121/why-assert-macro-makes-use-only-for-debug-build

I've tried running cmake with cmake build-type=Debug ...,

The correct way to build in Debug mode is cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug.
Your command line reports a error.

assert() is always ignored (even in unit-tests)

I personally do not encourage using assert macro. For the most of applications, if a proper set of unit tests is defined,, it can be avoided.