ℹ This blog post is regularly updated. | Last edit: 2026-10
| This page offers a collection of getting started materials - such as presentations, blogs and videos - about the ABAP Core Data Services (CDS) which provide the next generation data modeling infrastructure for defining and consuming semantically rich data models on the ABAP platform as of SAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP 7.4 SP05. ABAP CDS is a core technology within SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) ABAP Environment, and the ABAP development for SAP HANA in general. |
Latest News🔥:
2026-10: CDS Table Entities - Definition of Fields: built-in types and type mappings
2026-10: Get Started with CDS Table Entities
2026-09: ABAP Sessions at Devtoberfest in 2026 (replays available)
Overview
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Documentation
- ABAP Data Models Guide
- ABAP CDS Glossary
- ABAP CDS Development Tools Guide
- ABAP CDS in the ABAP Keyword Documentation: On-Premise | Cloud
- ABAP - Release News: On-Premise
Basics for Beginners
- What is Code Pushdown? (Code-to-Data paradigm)
- Spotlight on ABAP for SAP HANA (Get the big Picture)
- Introduction to ABAP CDS (Overview presentation)
- ABAP CDS Feature Availability Matrix
- ABAP CDS Cheat Sheet
- ABAP CDS Cheat Sheet (von brandeis.de)
Additional Information
Advanced Topics
CDS Table Entities 🔥
- Get Started with CDS Table Entities
- CDS Table Entities - Definition of Fields: built-in types and type mappings
CDS Simple Types
CDS View Entities
- New generation of CDS views: CDS view entities
- CDS view entities – The new CDS views
- CDS view entities are feature complete: New features, improvements, and differences
- How to migrate your CDS DDIC-based views to CDS view entities
- How to build composition tree with CDS view entities
- CDS Views with Parameters
CDS Associations
CDS Projection Views
- New type of CDS entity available: CDS projection views
- CDS Projection Views in ABAP CDS: What’s Your Flavor?
- CDS Analytical Projection Views – the new Analytical Query Model
CDS Hierarchies
- Beginners guide for CDS Hierarchies – Part 1
- Beginners guide for CDS Hierarchies – Part 2
- Working with Hierarchies in ABAP SQL
CDS Table Functions
- CDS Table Functions for SAP HANA breakout scenarios
CDS Annotations
- Framework-specific CDS Annotations
- CDS Annotations for Metadata-Driven UIs
- ABAP CDS Annotations - Keyword Documentation
- SAP Fiori elements Feature Showcase App for RAP and ABAP CDS:
º Overview
º What's new in Release 2302?
º What's new in Release 2308?
Access Control
Modification-free extensions
- CDS Entity Extensions
- CDS Metadata Extensions (MDEs): Blog post | Documentation
Testability
- ABAP Unit Testing with the ABAP CDS Test Double Framework (TDF)
Implementation Patterns & Naming Conventions
- Implementation patterns of CDS in SAP S/4HANA (blog post)
- Virtual Data Model (VDM) and CDS Views in SAP S/4HANA (incl. naming conventions):
On-Premise | Cloud
Custom CDS Views
- The Custom CDS Views App
- Custom CDS Views - Using Multiple Data Sources
- Custom CDS Views – FAQ
- Custom CDS Views – What’s New in 2108
- Custom CDS Views – What’s New in 2111
- Custom CDS Views – What's New in 2202
- Custom CDS Views – What's New in 2208
- Custom CDS Views – What's New in 2302
- Custom CDS Views – What's New in 2502
- Check out more blog posts by Andreas Riehl
Embedded Analytics with ABAP CDS
- Developing for Analytics with the SAP BTP ABAP Environment
- Embedded Analytics with ABAP Cloud – A Brief Overview (Part 1)
- Embedded Analytics with ABAP Cloud – The Multidimensional Cube (Part 2)
Get Your Hands Dirty
You can get yourself familiar with ABAP CDS on SAP BTP ABAP Environment or SAP S/4HANA.
Prerequisites:
- Latest version of ABAP Development Tools (ADT) for Eclipse is installed.
- Access to an SAP BTP ABAP Environment system or appropriate SAP S/4HANA system.
You can, for example, create a free user on the SAP BTP ABAP Environment trial
Various tutorials are provided in the SAP Developer Center.
FAQs, Best Practices, Cheat Sheets, ...
Tips & Tricks / Cheat Sheets
Performance Best Practices & Guidelines
- Performance considerations when using ABAP CDS in SAP Business Suite on anyDB
- Optimize Your Custom ABAP Code for SAP HANA [CAA104@SAP TechEd 2019] 📹
- Safeguard Performance of ABAP CDS Views
º Part 1 – CDS View Complexity
º Part 2 – SAP HANA SQL Optimizer and Plan Cache (Analysis)
º Part 3 – Rules for Good Performance of CDS Views - Best Practice Guides about
º ABAP CDS in SAP Business Suite
º ABAP CDS in SAP S/4HANA - Db2 LUW Optimized for SAP Core Data Services
- ABAP CDS View Performance Best Practices 🔥
- CDS View Performance Best Practice – NOT NULL preserving LEFT OUTER JOIN 🔥
Performance Analysis
- How to analyze Query Performance for ABAP CDS Views
- The SAP HANA Plan Visualizer (PlanViz) – Quick and Easy
- HANA PlanViz Analysis on CDS views
- The Plan Visualizer (PlanViz) in the SAP HANA Performance Guide
- Analyzing Performance Degradations in SAP BTP ABAP environment
- Analyzing SQL Statements of Your Application | SAP Help Portal
Further Information
- Getting Started with the ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model (RAP) | SAP Community
- Analytical Data Modeling & Live Data Connection to SAP Analytics Cloud | SAP Helps
- Getting Started with ABAP Programming Model for Fiori Apps (based on CDS & BOPF) | SAP Blogs
- 📺Videos
º ABAP for SAP HANA playlist @YouTube
º CAA104@SAP TechEd 2019 – Optimize Your Custom ABAP Code for SAP HANA
º Finding the right CDS Extractor in SAP S/4HANA
ABAP Cloud
- What is ABAP Cloud? | ABAP Cloud FAQ
- ABAP Cloud Sessions at Devtoberfest 2023
- ABAP Cloud Sessions at SAP TechEd 2023
Learning Materials & Courses
- SAP Tutorials Navigator - Filter entries by topics (e.g. ABAP Development)
- Free openSAP courses:
º ABAP Development for SAP HANA (retired in October 2023)
º Buildings Apps with RAP - SAP Learning Journeys, such as
º Learn the Basics of ABAP Programming
º Acquire Core ABAP Skills - Instructor-led SAP Trainings such as
º [S4D430] Data Modelling Data Dictionary and ABAP CDS
º [HA400] ABAP Programming for SAP HANA
º Other SAP materials
Last edit: October 2026
Bluesky
