ABAP Programming or JAVA programming, in SAP - Which has got the edge?

[mahesh_madhavan]

Hi,

I've been intrigued by the use of JAVA in SAP. Though I'm a novice and have been working only on ABAP, I would like to know which is better. Will JAVA overtake ABAP in future(in its use within SAP ofcourse! )? I would like to know the pros and cons of using both, as well.

Thanks,

Mahesh M.S.

Moved from ABAP, General

Edited by: kishan P on Apr 14, 2011 2:21 PM

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

I would take up Java for the long run.

I think that more and more new development will be Java and ABAP will be used in maintenance. And ABAP will only be around as long as R/3 is around. Java is a more portable skill.

Rob

[markus_doehr2 · Accepted solution]

> I think that more and more new development will be Java and ABAP will be used in maintenance.

...knowingly that WD-Java will no more developed further?

> And ABAP will only be around as long as R/3 is around. Java is a more portable skill.

Given the fact that e. g. in MSS/ESS area all applications are backported off Java to WD-ABAP...

I remember that at some point there was the statement of

- ABAP is for business logic, providing the service

- Java is for the consumption of it

However, this all seems pretty application specific.

CRM is based on BSP which is still ABAP.

Markus

[mahesh_madhavan · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone,

I think this is a matter of debate. And yes I agree with the fact that ABAP is easier to learn and implement than JAVA. But have worked in ABAP only, so far. Anyway I think only time will tell which will overtake the other. Thanks everyone for replying.

Regards,

Mahesh M.S.

[andreas_mann3 · Accepted solution]

JAVA is only a soap bubble.

It's required in the standard job descriptions of the most headhunters and other consulting-slave-traders

for sap developers - but only push and blow up the bubble...

but it's a fact that here in germany noone install neither own java programs inside SAP business logic nor abap oo

greetings

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Oh no!

I believe like most of you - that ABAP has the edge. A couple of years ago I was going to learn JAVA. I never really got the chance.

However - knowledge is never a bad thing. I would think - just a guess - that there are times when it makes more sense to use JAVA than ABAP. BUT I don't know. I program in "ABAP". (BSP, Webdynpro, workflow, objects...)

My oh no - I would think that learning ABAP Objects is high on the list of things to do. More and more SAP code is moving that way. More and more clients - like me - are expecting our consultants to know objects. There are a ton of really good reasons... Many blogs written.. Many books..

[andreas_mann3 · Accepted solution]

OO

[mahesh_madhavan · Accepted solution]

No. Not exactly. What is it?

[David · Accepted solution]

Telletubbies = a children's show with aliens as the main characters.

[mahesh_madhavan · Accepted solution]

Ok. Thank you. But wait, what is it doing HERE?

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Aliens are learning ABAP

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

I used to love teletubbies when i was studying in school

[matt · Accepted solution]

ABAPs demise was being predicted from at least 1998. It became possible in the early years of the new millenium, but now Java is on the back seat.

Having said that - if you want to do ABAP Objects properly - learn Java first. It's far easier to learn OO concepts and get the paradigm with Java.

La-la, Po.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

I honestly think that Oracle's purchase of Sun marked the turning point - and the migration away from Java for SAP development. Why would SAP want their customer base getting directed to their main competitors site for support issues within their own products?

Java from now on will be used - only where there are no alternatives - and SAP will support the existing Java customers - but don't expect a whole bunch of new Java development from SAP anytime soon.

Which means I think that ABAP will be the main development platform - and I expect .NET to become the secondary main development platform.

[stephenjohannes · Accepted solution]

Honestly IMHO Oracle's purchase of java just made everyone realize that they were hoodwinked into another proprietary language with a new owner that has a history of making money of what they sell. I just never bought the whole java is open as a selling point for the language. Then again I'm one of those types perfectly happy with C++ coded in c style, instead of being locked in a sandbox. Besides did java ever really solve the problem of figuring out what libraries to use, instead of writing a new library for something already that was built. It's not that the language is useful and productive, I just think it never quite achieved its full goals.

That being said nothing wrong with knowing both languages and being awesome in one.

Take care,

Stephen

[Lukas_Weigelt]

JAVA ultimately can never overtake ABAP in my humble opinion.... There is too much "old stuff" which "just works" by now, I don't think it could be all adapted to JAVA. Also ABAP is getting more and more adapted to the OO-Environment, ABAP is easier to implement also. Additionally, SAP is reverting most of the Portal Content from JAVA to ABAP, this speaks volumes.

Then again it's never wrong to think out of the box...

Pros for JAVA:

100% OO-based

99% platform-independent

Pros for ABAP:

easier to implement in SAP

getting adapted to OO

intertwined in the SAP System, you'll never get rid of it so better learn to use it o_o

regards

[Former Member]

I would add that the ABAP runtime environment is very much more stable, reliable and scalable.

From an administration point of view, the "older" technology (abap) is so much easier.

Compare for exemple the system logs : SM21 for abap and a nightmare of unmeaningful junk hidden in very very deep directory tree for Java.

I'm sure that ABAP will stay for long even if it's getting old and not "sexy". Cobol was supposed to die ages ago !

Cheers,

Olivier