bof - grey haired abap
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How to stay relevant as a grey haired ABAP'erTRANSCRIPT
Grey Haired ABAP
How-to: Stay relevand
By Tom Van Doorslaer
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Agenda
WebDynpro
NWBC BSP
Why this session?
ABAP
Gateway
SAPUI5
Agenda
WebDynpro
NWBC BSP
Why this session?
ABAP
Gateway
SAPUI5
Why are we having this discussion, again?
This is what SAP marketing keeps telling you
Why are we having this discussion, again?
In there, SAP talks about
Fiori
Screen Personas
In some rare cases they also mention
NetWeaver Business client
Why are we having this discussion, again?
But most of the time they completely forget about
WebDynpro For ABAP
Business Server Pages
BSP
BAPI’s
And everything else
Why are we having this discussion, again?
The result is:
Worried customers
Worried ABAP developers
Worried analysts
Worried Partners
So Let’s set the picture straight
SAP is notoriously good at advertising new technology
And is notorious for forgetting about current technology
Agenda
WebDynpro
NWBC BSP
Why this session?
ABAP
Gateway
SAPUI5
SAPUI5
SAPUI5 might be based on Javascript
But they still need to get their data from somewhere
And that somewhere, is motly the SAP Gateway
Which uses ABAP to get the logic from the database
It also resembles A LOT with the architecture of WebDynpro
Although it’s completely different
Agenda
WebDynpro
NWBC BSP
Why this session?
ABAP
Gateway
SAPUI5
Case - ABAP
ABAP
WebDynpro
Sidepanels
Complex applications
CockpitsGateway Web
Services
Classic Dynpros
(+ personas)ABAP On HANA
Case - ABAP
But is it still relevant?
What do you think?
What does it take to update our skills
Learn WebDynpro: It’ll give you a good understanding of MVC
architecture (important for UI5 as well) and OO (important for
Gateway)
Learn Gateway if you don’t like front-ends, but love API’s
Learn Screen Personas: You’ll notice that Persona scripting is less
powerfull than an ABAP BDC, this will give you ample opportunities
Agenda
WebDynpro
NWBC BSP
Why this session?
ABAP
Gateway
SAPUI5
Case - webDynpro
What can you use it for?
Create new WDA applications
Sidepanels
POWL
Extend standard WebDynpro applications
Create cockpits
Case - webDynpro
But is it still relevant?
YES! Absolutely!
WDA will still be around at least until 2025
And probably beyond
Moreover, WDA ties in close with the Business client (think of
sidepanels)
Learning WDA is also a first step for an ABAP developer, to learning
SAPUI5
BUT! WebDynpro is not mobile Friendly
Agenda
WebDynpro
NWBC BSP
Why this session?
ABAP
Gateway
SAPUI5
Case - NWBC
What can you use it for?
It’s a great frontend that combines
Powerfull sapgui transactions
With context aware information
Web applications
Such as webdynpro
BSP
3rd party websites
Screen personas
And even Fiori
Case - NWBC
But is it still relevant?
YES! Absolutely!
Seeing as SAP increased support for NW7 and ECC6 upto 2025
NWBC will remain at least relevant until than
And most likely far beyond
NWBC can also cope with Fiori and Screen Personas
NWBC is an advanced browser
If the future is BrowserBased, an advanced browser has an advantage
BUT! NWBC is not Mobile friendly!
Agenda
WebDynpro
NWBC BSP
Why this session?
ABAP
Gateway
SAPUI5
Case - BSP
You should’ve moved on long ago
BSP is a great tool for free-style webapplications on ABAP
But you should’ve either moved to CRM WebUI
Or to WebDynpro
Fortunately BSP is the base for Fiori Apps
That gives you a little edge
Case - BSP
But is it still relevant?
No!
Well, yes actually, but only as a container to hold Fiori/SAPUI5
applications
You don’t use the controller principle of BSP anymore
But! With the BSP framework in combination with UI5, you can
make mobile applications!
Agenda
WebDynpro
NWBC BSP
Why this session?
ABAP
Gateway
SAPUI5
Gateway
Typically, you’ll have your gateway tied with the backend
Which is based on ABAP
So if you want to stay in the API development, gateway is a
perfect place
Tom Van Doorslaer Ctac Belgium
@TomVanDoo