Difference Between ABAP on Cloud & Restful ABAP Programming Model (RAP)

[former_member39336]

Hello Experts,

i keep on listening the word ABAP on Cloud these days. i know the back ground of RAP. i would like to know how it differs from ABAP on Cloud. or Would these 2 are one and the same.

Could any one gives me a clarification on this topic.

Regards

Sri Ram

[harishbokkasam1 · Accepted solution]

Hi,

My understanding is RAP is a way to build data models with CDS, add transcational behaviour and create a oData UI or webAPI service on top.

This is similar to BOPF which also creates a BO.

RAP can be used on premise instead of BOPF. On ABAP on cloud RAP is only option to create a BO. In general, ABAP on cloud is a leaner and stricter version of ABAP.

[maheshpalavalli]

Both are completely different.

ABAP RAP is just a framework to develop services(OData services, webapis .,) in abap environment, this can be your on-premise S4HANA or it can be at ABAP Environment on the SAP Cloud Platform. (It is much more than what I specified in the simplified definition, check out the below help)

https://help.sap.com/viewer/923180ddb98240829d935862025004d6/Cloud/en-US/289477a81eec4d4e84c0302fb68...

ABAP on Cloud is nothing but ABAP Environment on the SAP Cloud Platform, which is a PaaS offering for ABAP environment. So we can use ABAP RAP here like any other abap classes or features ( which are allowed).

https://community.sap.com/topics/cloud-platform-abap-environment#:~:text=SAP%20Cloud%20Platform%2C%2....

[matt]

My understanding is that ABAP on the Cloud is to ABAP RAP as the ABAP Workbench tools in SAPGui are to ABAP on premise.

I.e. ABAP on the Cloud includes creating CDS views, or database tables etc. and ABAP RAP is the programming language you use to - e.g. create reports. ABAP RAP is not currently as rich a language as the ABAP you may be used to.

[Astashonok]

ABAP RAP is not a separate language but rather a framework or dialect, and what concerns "is not rich", it depends. CDS views, virtual models and AMDP functions are definitely more powerful than everything you can do in ABAPsql (former OpenSQL). Casts, associations, sophisticated joins etc.

[matt]

Some people try to tell me that Swiss German isn't a separate language - just a dialect. It's either a language or a dialect - the distinction is a matter of opinion. ABAP RAP is a language in it's own right, in that it is Turing Complete; it is a cut down version of on-premise ABAP (ABAP 7.4 up, technologically, or ABAP for Fiore in marketing-speak). ABAP RAP can also be used to describe the framework.
SAP is wonderful in a kind of Humpty Dumpty way - words (or acronyms) can mean anything you like.

Considering RAP as a langauge (sorry, dialect...) The reason I say that ABAP RAP is not as rich, is that ABAP RAP, as it is evolving, is gaining features that are already part of ABAP-on premise.

CDS views and AMDP classes exists in ABAP on-premise - it's not exclusively a RAP thing. CDS views aren't part of the ABAP programming language - whether RAP or not - they are part of on cloud and on premise ABAP development environment.

TL;DR

On cloud is a real thing. ABAP is a programming language. Everything is marketing vapourware. In my opinion... 😉