ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming, originally Allgemeiner Berichts-Aufbereitungs-Prozessor, German for general report creation processor [1]), pronounced as 'ah-bop', is a high-level programming language created by the German software company SAP. It is currently positioned, alongside the more recently introduced Java, as the language for programming the SAP Application Server, part of its NetWeaver platform for building business applications. The syntax of ABAP is somewhat similar to COBOL.
The ABAP programming language was originally used by developers to develop the SAP R/3 platform. It was also intended to be used by SAP customers to enhance SAP applications – customers can develop custom reports and interfaces with ABAP programming. The language is fairly easy to learn for programmers but it is not a tool for direct use by non-programmers. Good programming skills, including knowledge of relational database design and preferably also of object-oriented concepts, are required to create ABAP programs.
The term transaction must not be misunderstood here; in the context just described, a transaction simply means calling and executing an ABAP program. In application programming, transaction often refers to an indivisible operation on data, which is either committed as a whole or undone (rolled back) as a whole. This concept exists in SAP and is called as a LUW (Logical Unit of Work). In the course of one transaction (program execution), there can be different LUWs.
The all-new 2nd Edition of this bestselling book covers ABAP development with SAP NetWeaver. Whether you are new to ABAP programming, an experienced developer, or a consultant or project team member: this in-depth reference provides you with comprehensive knowledge of all facets of ABAP technology. Based on ABAP Objects, this 1000+ page book describes all concepts of modern ABAP up to Release 7.0 (including a sneak preview of Release 7.10). Brand new topics found in the new edition include SAP NetWeaver Application Server ABAP, Regular Expressions, Shared Objects, class-based exception handling, assertions, Web Dynpro for ABAP, Object Services, dynamic programming, interface technologies (RFC, ICF, XML), and test tools, among others. Procedural techniques are also covered where necessary.
