GNATlike

GNATlike is an informal term used in software development to describe tools, languages, or environments that resemble the GNAT Ada compiler ecosystem or aim to be compatible with it. It is not a formal standard, but a shorthand used to discuss projects that want to align with GNAT’s approach to Ada development.

In practice, GNATlike implementations typically strive to support core Ada language features and standard libraries, recognize GNAT-style pragmas and attributes, and adopt a project/build model similar to GNAT’s. This often includes compatibility with GNAT project files (.gpr) and the gprbuild build system, as well as integration with GNAT runtime libraries. Some GNATlike tools may also offer hooks to SPARK, the formally verifiable subset of Ada, or related verification and analysis tooling such as GNATprove.

The term is most commonly used in Ada and embedded systems communities, where portability and interoperability with existing Ada codebases are important. Developers may refer to a compiler, IDE, or toolchain as GNATlike if it provides a familiar workflow, syntax expectations, and project organization that resemble GNAT’s, even if it implements only a subset of features or adds its own extensions.

Due to its informal nature, there is no universal conformance standard for GNATlike tooling. Compatibility levels vary by project, and users should verify specific language support, pragma behavior, and build file semantics against their needs. For reference, GNAT itself remains the canonical Ada compiler suite, and many GNATlike discussions point toward alignment with its conventions and ecosystem.

See also: GNAT, Ada programming language, SPARK, gprbuild, GNATprove.