Java@SAP
All right again let me come to Java & SAP topic; in other words Java vs. ABAP. As you know, there are a lot of questions like that “Is SAP going to leave ABAP development?” “Did SAP replace ABAP development with Java?” etc… I came across a good comment on SDN written by SAP.
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…Meanwhile, Java plays a role equal to ABAP in SAP software development, and SAP plans to increase the percentage of software developed in Java gradually over the coming years.
The reason that this gradual shift cannot be speeded up at will is also quite clear: SAP will not rewrite their existing ABAP-based applications, but rather build new add-ons and enhancements - and of course any newly added individual applications - in Java, while keeping the existing ABAP world intact. This requires, however, that Java and ABAP are not too far apart from each other, and follow similar rules regarding the runtime environment and the development process. Also, a good connectivity between the Java and the ABAP platform is of utmost importance.
The systems that derive from these considerations are often so designed that a Java-based front-end application connects to an ABAP-based backend system via a defined interface. This is why connectivity between non-homogenous systems and state-of-the-art user interface design are focus topics in SAP's Java technology - the former handled by the Web services framework in SAP Web AS, the latter by SAP's own user interface technology, Web Dynpro.
This does not mean, however, that Java-based applications in the SAP arena do not contain any business logic. SAP's new type of cross applications, called SAP® xApps?, which bring together existing functionality from disparate systems in innovative ways, reside completely in the Java platform. Also, SAP has taken every effort to make the database access layer for Java-based programs just as efficient as it used to be on the ABAP side.
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In all these respects, SAP's guiding principle is always: leverage the know-how we have gathered from our experience with ABAP-based systems, so that the Java-based systems can benefit from it in the future.
(sdn.sap.com)
Tags: java
