ABAP Cloud

Provide suitable tools for agile software development with the ABAP Cloud development model and benefit from a fast, flexible realization of SAP applications

Platform for agile software development

Potentials of ABAP Cloud

Applications based on the latest technologies

What is ABAP Cloud?

ABAP Cloud is not a new product from SAP, but a platform that enables developers to build, test, and deploy SAP applications quickly and flexibly. The platform provides tools for agile development and continuous integration so developers can rapidly evolve their applications and deliver new functionality to users.

With ABAP Cloud, developers can take advantage of the scalability and security of the cloud while leveraging the power of the ABAP programming language.

ABAP Cloud provides access to a range of SAP services and tools, and also supports collaboration and integration with other development platforms.

Challenges of ABAP Cloud:

SAP currently only provides a limited number of public APIs for development, but this is set to be steadily expanded.
Companies often only benefit from ABAP Cloud with new developments because legacy developments do not enjoy the advantages.
Dynpro/Web Dynpro and SAP language elements marked as “obsolete” are no longer supported in ABAP Cloud.
The full functionality of ABAP Cloud is only available to companies that have purchased newer versions of SAP S/4HANA (from version 2022). Customers working on an older SAP S/4HANA version cannot access the full range of functions (from version 1909).

Elements of ABAP Cloud:

Core Data Services (CDS) for the data model and for embedded analytics
ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model (RAP)
ABAP Development Tools (ADT) in Eclipse as ABAP IDE
Mandatory public SAP APIs and extension points (API Business Hub)
Cloud-optimized ABAP language for business logic

ABAP Cloud is the new ABAP development model for building cloud-enabled business applications, services and extensions. It comes with SAP Business Technology Platform and SAP S/4HANA and works equally well with public cloud, private cloud and on-premise systems.

Potentials of ABAP Cloud

Transformation to the cloud

ABAP cloud applications can be developed decoupled from the digital core – in accordance with the principle “Keep the core clean”. This approach helps to minimize problems with new releases, maintain the ability to upgrade, and benefit from SAP innovations.

Adaptations for SAP S/4HANA Cloud are still possible. SAP provides various interfaces for this purpose:

Key user extensions on a low-code/no-code basis for customizing the UI or adding user-defined fields
On-stack developer extension for implementing developments directly on the SAP S/4HANA Cloud technology stack (Embedded Steampunk)
Side-by-side extensions for developments on SAP Business Technology Platform environment or public interfaces consisting of shared objects and local public APIs (Steampunk)

ABAP know-how can continue to be used in the cloud and existing ABAP assets can be reused.

Market opportunities for partners

With ABAP Cloud, developers can collaborate on projects, share knowledge and best practices, and build on the work of others. This leads to faster and more effective innovation, as well as higher quality and reliability of developed applications.

By integrating ABAP Cloud with other SAP technologies such as SAP HANA and SAP Fiori, companies can leverage their existing SAP investments while extending the capabilities of their systems.

ABAP Cloud’s support for customizing and extending SAP applications enables companies to tailor their systems to their specific needs and requirements while gaining a competitive advantage in their industry.

Components of the ABAP Cloud development environment

ABAP Core Data Services

ABAP Core Data Services (CDS) is also a part of the ABAP Cloud programming environment. It is a modeling technique that allows developers to define and consume data models. ABAP CDS provides a standardized method for defining data models and offers a range of functions such as annotations, projections, and associations to make it easier to work with data in ABAP Cloud applications. SAP already delivers an extensive virtual data model (VDM) based on ABAP CDS views.

ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model

RESTful Application Programming Model (RAP) is the architecture for developing SAP HANA optimized OData Services in the ABAP development environment. With RAP, developers can create all kinds of Fiori apps, as well as publish web APIs. RAP is based on technologies and frameworks such as the Core Data Services (CDS) to create a semantically rich data model and service infrastructure.

Modern ABAP development in Eclipse with ADT tools

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