SAP's exclusive fourth-generation programming system is known by the term ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming). It was created expressly to make the processing of large amounts of data in SAP business apps possible. SAP ABAP, initially entrenched in procedural programming, has adeptly incorporated object-oriented principles, redefining the way developers conceive and construct software solutions.

This article embarks on a comprehensive exploration of Object Orientation in SAP ABAP, highlighting its foundational principles, evolutionary trajectory, the pivotal role of classes, and indispensable features. In an era where collaborative and efficient software development is paramount, understanding and mastering these concepts is fundamental. Businesses using SAP ERP and SAP S/4HANA business solutions can tailor those systems to better suit their requirements by utilizing ABAP in SAP NetWeaver.

Developers can use administrative object-oriented and other principles of programming since ABAP is a programming language with several paradigms. Programs built in ABAP can coexist alongside those built using different languages of programming, including Java, JavaScript, and SAPUI5, even though it is the principal programming language used by SAP.

A Brief History of ABAP's Past

SAP first released ABAP in the 1980s. Developers' capabilities were expanded with the language's numerous improvements over time. For instance, programs could only be constructed formally up until April 2000, which meant that in order for a program to complete a task effectively, it had to adhere to a predetermined set of "procedures."

With the release of 4.6C in May 2000, SAP modified ABAP to support object-oriented programming (OOP). By using ABAP pattern design alongside additional OOP techniques, this coding approach enables applications to become more advanced by allowing several separate "objects" to communicate with each other.

ABAP's Evolution

ABAP's journey from a procedural language to an object-oriented powerhouse mirrors the global trend in software development. With the introduction of ABAP Objects, ABAP embraced core OOP concepts like classes, objects, inheritance, and polymorphism. Developers familiar with other modern languages like Java and C++ find these principles seamlessly applicable in ABAP. This convergence ensures a cohesive approach to software design across diverse technological landscapes.

SAP provided oriented toward object developers using ABAP with some potent new capabilities to work with with the introduction of ABAP 7.4 and 7.5 in the beginning to mid-2010s, significantly lowering the quantity of code required for typical operations. The final product is code that is ultimately up to 50% smaller, less polluted, and more understandable, which makes life easier for developers and consumers alike.

Expanded syntax for Open SQL, ABAP Management Database Procedures (AMDP), and core information services (CDS) Views were among the additional new capabilities made accessible to ABAP developers in the 2010s.

With the development and introduction of the SAP HANA platform in the summer of 2011, ABAP programming underwent arguably its largest and most significant transformation. This information's memory structure allows functionality that was previously done on the program layer to take place on the data storage layer.

ABAP software needed to execute at the application's layer instead of the level of the database when using SAP R/3's conventional row-based database design in order to conserve memory for other tasks. However, SAP HANA made it possible—in fact, encouraged—to use in-memory technology to accomplish activities in real-time.

This implied that a database structure could include code that was created and used. This meant that businesses using SAP S/4HANA, the latest version of the SAP solution, had a plethora of new development choices. Coding ABAP on SAP HANA involves a few matters, but it's manageable and quite strong.

Many programmers questioned whether ABAP would become less and less relevant in the first half of 2010 as SAP bought several cloud-based, non-ABAP-based technologies and moved its current products online. However, the introduction of SAP S/4HANA—and, more significantly, ABAP in the Cloud—brought new life to the language, prompting many to declare that "ABAP's not dead." With a strong understanding of how to utilize ABAP to develop SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business Technologies Platform, and other applications, programmers entered the second quarter of the century prepared.

Key Features: Real-world Entity Modeling, Data Security, Code Reusability

Embracing Object Orientation in ABAP introduces several transformative features:

Effective Programming Structure: Objects and classes provide a structured framework, enhancing the readability and maintainability of the codebase.
Real-world Entity Modeling: Objects mirror real-world entities, enabling developers to map business processes accurately and holistically.
Data Security and Access Control: Encapsulation ensures that data is shielded and accessible only through defined methods.
Minimized Code Redundancy: Object-oriented design minimizes redundancy by encapsulating behavior within objects. Code reusability is thereby maximized, leading to more efficient and maintainable systems.

Runtime Environment for ABAP

The SAP database contains all of the ABAP programs. However, unlike C++ and Java applications, they are never saved in outside files.All of the code contained in the database is composed in ABAP and is available in two formats:

Produced code and the source code that may be seen and edited with the aid of ABAP Workbench tools. It's a binary encoding that resembles Java byte codes.

You can manage the runtime system, which is a component of the SAP kernel, via ABAP programs. Additionally, an ABAP expression process is permitted by the execution system. It manages displays logic and reacts to human input, such as mouse lingering or user clicks.

Depending on the SAP S/4HANA model, the ABAP RESTful computing framework is an entirely novel approach that forgoes the Business Object Processor Framework (BOPF) in favor of a more sophisticated idea.

Comparing the New and Old ABAP

Working with an experienced ABAP programmer or reading through blogs on the SAP Communities can introduce you to concepts like "new," "modern," "old," "classic," "legacy," or "old-fashioned" ABAP. What does all of that mean?

Put "old," "old-fashioned," "classic," or "legacy." ABAP usually refers to methods of programming used in the field between the years 1980 and the beginning of 2000. The introduction of object-oriented programming in ABAP, along with the unauthorized syntax update introduced with version 7.4, denote the shift to "new" or "modern" ABAP.

When to Apply ABAP

ABAP software can be used to alter any SAP solution, ranging from SAP R/1 to SAP S/4HANA. Even though ABAP is not the primary language used by certain offerings (like SAP Business One, which is part of SAP Ariba, and purchased products like SAP Concur and SAP SuccessFactors), it is still used whenever these products interact with an underlying SAP ERP or SAP S/4HANA system which is based upon ABAP.

The Workbench for ABAP

When interacting with ABAP code, programmers have access to six essential tools. The ABAP Workspace is an atmosphere for development where they can be found. Many essential instruments for development are included in this context; the most widely used ones can be accessed via the Object Explorer. Using the t-code SE80, you have access to the object's Navigator.

SAP makes extensive use of it while creating typical custom apps. Dictionary objects can also be created with the ABAP Workbench.The following are the parts of SAP ABAP:

ABAP Editor: Its primary function is to update programs.

Dictionary objects are maintained via the ABAP Dictionary.

Menu Designer is a program for creating graphical user interfaces, such as toolbars and button bars.

Display Painter: It is employed in the upkeep of online services' screens.

Data models, table buildings, applications, and routines are examples of creations and runtime items for which information is stored in an institutional database.

Function Builders: This part aids in the creation and upkeep of functional components and groups.

Test and investigation tools, such as the Debugger and Syntax Check.

Data Modeller: Graphical modeling is supported by this program.

Workbench organizer: This tool assists you in managing several development projects under the supervision of programmers for sharing.

Below is an overview of these essential ABAP Workbench tools:

ABAP Editor

The ABAP Writer is a specialized tool that allows one to code in two front-end Writer versions and one Back-End Writer mode. It has three different modes of operation. The three different editors are completely replaceable and interoperable. All additional methods can view the source material created by a particular editor-in-chief.

The ABAP Editor can be accessed using t-code SE38.

The ABAP Dictionary

This across the system storage facility, also known as the Data lexicon, DDIC, or occasionally just "Dictionary," is where database objects like domains, data components, and translucent columns are created and updated. The software will check the ABAP Dictionary to make certain that all parties are using the same definition for an object.

Using t-code SE11, you are able to use the ABAP Dictionary.

ABAP Painter

Two tools called the ABAP Painter are employed for creating dynos and GUI status. While the Window Painter uses text and displays editing to generate donors, the Menu Painter generates the GUI state and its elements.

T-codes SE41 and SE51 grant you entrance to the Menu Painter and Screen Painter, respectively.

Function Builder

This tool allows you to design and manage function components. These are standard operating procedures, which have two endings: ENDFUNCTION and FUNCTION.Using t-code SE37, you are able to access the Functions section of the Builder.

Class Builder

A particular application for creating and managing class pools is the Class Builder. A class pool is a type of library that holds global classes and their corresponding descriptions to facilitate their implementation by the program in question.

Using t-code SE24, you can access the Class Builder.

Web Application Builder: With the help of this tool, programmers can design web applications. The Web Application Builder can be accessed by selecting this menu option: Make > BSP Application > BSP Library.

Additional Important ABAP Terms

Although most of the primary jargon you'll encounter when utilizing ABAP has been covered, there are a few more that you should be aware of. Let's examine a dozen of these terms and ideas.

ABAP Debugger: A program debugging tool for problems with functionality.
ABAP Production Guidelines: These are a collection of universal and Sap-specific recommendations designed to assist programmers who are using ABAP to create programs.
ABAP Programming Tools: A collection of Eclipse-compatible extensions that developers can obtain to enable ABAP programming. Previously referred to as ABAP Development Tools in Eclipse or ABAP in Eclipse.
ABAP Management Database Procedures: A stored procedure that allows complex code to be run inside a database. Particularly to the memory-based processing capabilities of SAP HANA.
The formal term for OOP in ABAP is ABAP Objects.
An instrument for testing code sections' functionality is the ABAP Unit.
CDS Views: Centralized data source Programmers can fully utilize the SAP HANA database with views. Through OData, they improve data exchange with other UIs and cloud apps. SAP Fiori apps are built on top of these.
Design patterns are proven solutions to typical software issues that can be "recycled" and applied to the creation of new applications.
Depository Information System: A searchable source through t-code SE15 or the Object Explorer for repository objects.
SAP GUI, or SAP Graphical User Interface, is the user interface found in the presentation component of desktop programs written in ABAP code rather than in a web browser.
NetWeaver AS for SAP ABAP: A client-server component with at least three layers—the appearance, implementation, and database layers—that enables the creation of ABAP programs. The acronym AS represents Application Server.
Two-Track Method Creation: Developing two iterations of a method at the same time. Using combined ABAP and AMDP for executing an approach is one example of this.

Traditional ABAP coding is not the same as ABAP development for SAP HANA. To help you create ABAP applications that are optimized for SAP HANA, we released ABAP Programming for SAP HANA.

Give a brief overview of SAP HANA's framework for development and tools first. Next, become familiar with the code-to-data methodology, which specifies how programs must be written for SAP HANA systems.

Learn how to represent data using CDS views and calculating views, create company objects in ABAP programs utilizing BOPF, and gain reading and writing authority over a MySQL database utilizing ABAP database accessibility, SQLScript, and ABAP SQL as you delve into backbone ABAP scripting for SAP HANA.

Advanced Commercial Applications Software Development, or SAP ABAP

When it involves computer programming, it is an easy language to learn. The programming syntax known as ABAP was initially introduced in 1992 and is now used to create programs for client-server systems. All of the code in the relational database is written in Sap and is available in two kinds: produced code and source code, which are able to be viewed and edited using ABAP Workspace tools. The two categories of ABAP deployable applications are as follows: Reports and, secondly, modulesWithin the IT community, Java is widely utilized and has a significant impact on numerous open source projects. SAP, on the other hand, uses ABAP as its standard programming framework for both on-premises and on-demand company applications.