Will ABAP Survive SAP’s Shift to the Cloud?

Countless times the death of ABAP programming language in SAP has been prophesized but it seems like Abap is kicking still today. However, what would you advise someone looking to start their career as an ABAPer in the SAP field? Since SAP pushing its focus to the cloud, do you think it’s a death toll on Abap this time around or will it survive? Let’s discuss it!

It’s no secret that SAP is shifting its focus to the cloud. In recent years, the company has made several high-profile acquisitions in the cloud computing space and has been investing heavily in research and development for its own cloud offerings. As a result, there’s been a lot of speculation about the future of ABAP, SAP’s flagship programming language.

ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming) is a 4th generation programming language developed by SAP. It is used for creating custom applications for the SAP R/3 platform. Because of its ease of use and flexibility, ABAP has been one of the most popular languages for developing business applications on SAP.

However, with SAP’s renewed focus on the cloud, many believe that ABAP is no longer relevant and will eventually be replaced by newer languages such as Java or Node.js.

I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. While it’s true that newer languages may be better suited for developing cloud-based applications, I believe that ABAP still has a place in the SAP ecosystem. There are a number of reasons for this:

First, ABAP is still widely used by many large enterprises who have built their business applications on sap using ABAP . These companies are not going to simply abandon their existing systems and re-write everything in a new language. It’s just not practical from a cost or resource standpoint.

Second, ABAP is a very versatile language and can be used for much more than just business applications. It can also be used for building SapUI5/ Fiori applications, web services, HANA database procedures etc. In fact, I would argue that ABAP is actually better suited for some of these newer technologies than newer languages such as Javascript or Node.js.

Third, there is a huge installed base of ABAP programmers who are familiar with the language and how to use it effectively. While it’s true that some of these programmers may eventually move on to other languages, there will always be a need for experienced ABAP developers who can maintain and enhance existing systems.

In conclusion, I believe that despite SAP’s shift to the cloud, ABAP will continue to play an important role in the company’s ecosystem. Enterprises who have built their business on SAP are not going to simply abandon their existing systems, and ABAP remains a very versatile language that can be used for much more than just business applications. There is also a huge installed base of experienced ABAP programmers who can maintain and enhance existing systems.