SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) serves as a foundation for SAP’s cloud-based solutions. Through SAP BTP, SAP can deliver services to help increase development productivity; it is equivalent to the services offered on the former SAP Cloud Platform.
These services support developers by allowing them to easily store data; create great user experiences (UXs); integrate with services beyond the platform’s boundaries; perform analytics; leverage transformational technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, machine learning, and big data; and also maintain security.
SAP BTP, ABAP Environment
SAP BTP, ABAP environment is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) that enables developers to build cloud applications using a cloud-optimized version of the ABAP programming language.
In 2017, Cloud Foundry on SAP was introduced, an open-source environment that can be hosted on infrastructures, on-premise or in the cloud, and offers support for various programming languages. In 2018, ABAP was added to the list of languages supported by Cloud Foundry. It runs exclusively on Cloud Foundry and its positioning within SAP BTP, Cloud Foundry enables close integration with other services and capabilities available in SAP BTP.
SAP BTP, ABAP environment runs on the SAP HANA database, with ABAP-managed access to released database objects. Connectivity options cover both cloud-based and on-premise scenarios, and include the capability to expose web application programming interfaces (APIs).
It’s important to consider a few tools necessary for managing the SAP BTP, ABAP environment. The first is SAP BTP cockpit, which is used for creating and maintaining the ABAP environment. You’ll also use ABAP Development Tools (ADT) for Eclipse for your development tasks. Lastly, for code exchange and versioning, GitHub will be used via the abapGit plugin available for ADT or the Git-enabled Change and Transport System (gCTS).
Use cases for SAP BTP, ABAP environment can fall under two options. Side-by-side extensions are used for building new extensions and migrating existing extensions decoupled from SAP S/4HANA’s core. Then there’s new application development, which is used to create applications from scratch. This option supports integration with backend systems and leveraging SAP BTP services.
SAP BTP, ABAP environment shares the same foundation as SAP S/4HANA Cloud. The programming model is the ABAP RESTful application programming model, and the language is a restricted version of ABAP that is commonly used in on-premise systems. These restrictions include features that are not applicable in cloud environments, such as file access and system calls, and unsupported features (dynpros, lists, etc.).
ABAP is a key contributor to SAP solutions. Since the introduction of ABAP to the cloud, developers can now leverage their existing knowledge and experience to continue building applications and side-by-side extensions on SAP BTP.
Overview of ABAP in the Cloud Book
Learning to work with any new environment can be overwhelming, as it takes some time to adapt. We’ve published ABAP in the Cloud: Development and Operations with SAP BTP, ABAP Environment to acquaint you with the new development environment, toolset, and application programming process.
First, you’ll review the basics of the Cloud Foundry environment and the SAP BTP, ABAP environment. After, dive right into the application development process. Learn about the architecture, scope, and usage of the ABAP RESTful application programming model, along with how to create SAP Fiori apps and deploy them in the SAP BTP, ABAP environment.
Then, understand how to leverage business services running on different platforms (on-premise and in the cloud), to build intelligent solutions. Discover the essential role APIs play and the various ways to consume external APIs.
Next, explore operations across an end-to-end application lifecycle, with details on development, deployment, and continuous improvements. You’ll be provided with details on application lifecycle management, monitoring, security management, and application jobs.
Conclude your journey with next-steps for the ever-evolving SAP BTP, ABAP environment. Take a look at the future roadmap to get an idea of what new features and capabilities to expect.
Who Is This Book For?
This book will be of interest to developers, architects, and technical leaders looking to learn how to apply the capabilities of the SAP BTP, ABAP environment. Senior business executives will also benefit from the high-level concepts explained throughout the book.
About the Author
Gairik Acharya is a senior technical architect and associate partner at IBM with more than 20 years of IT experience. He is a recognized expert in ABAP, SAP HANA, OData, SAP Gateway, SAP S/4HANA, SAP Fiori, SAPUI5, SAP BTP, and SAP Mobile Platform.
Aleksandar Debelic is an SAP technical architect at IBM. He has more than 17 years of SAP experience, primarily as a technical solution architect and technology team lead. He is a managing consultant and member of the Global SAP Center of Competence and a global development team lead at SAP Innovation by IBM.
Shubhangi (Deshmukh) Joshi is an SAP technical architect at IBM with more than 15 years of SAP experience in the areas of project delivery, asset building, and SAP S/4HANA migration projects. In addition to her ABAP experience, her main areas of expertise are SAP S/4HANA, machine learning with SAP, SAP Conversational AI, SAP CoPilot, SAP BTP, and SAP Analytics Cloud.
Aayush Dhawan is a managing consultant at IBM. He has more than 14 years of SAP experience in the areas of technical development, functional consulting, and asset building. As part of the SAP Innovation team at IBM, he has contributed towards many co-innovation projects on emerging technologies including cloud development, digital advisors, blockchain, machine learning, and data science.
How to Purchase
If you’re interested in purchasing ABAP in the Cloud: Development and Operations with SAP BTP, ABAP Environment, follow this link and choose the format that works best for you: e-book, print edition, or bundle (both e-book and print).
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Learn SAP BTP in Our Upcoming Rheinwerk Course!
What is SAP Business Technology Platform and what can it do? Get all the information you need in this course. Take a tour of the platform’s tools and services for development, integration, analytics, data management, and more. Learn directly from the experts and see SAP BTP in action with practical demos. This upcoming course in January and February is live on the web and will teach you all you need to know about these topics. Click on the banner below to learn more and order your ticket.
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