What is ABAP: A Brief Overview

ABAP is a fourth generation, high-level programming language developed by SAP. The word ABAP was originally an abbreviation of the words Allgemeiner-Berichts-Aufbereitungs-Prozessor in German, which can be translated to “generic report preparation processor”. ABAP was then coined as “Advanced Business Application Programming”.

ABAP helps SAP users enhance their SAP ERP modules by developing additional features they might need. Together with Java, it’s the programming language for the SAP NetWeaver Application Server—making it the most widely used language for developing business applications. ABAP also helps customize workflows for financial accounting, materials management, asset management and all other SAP modules.

Brief History of ABAP

ABAP was first developed in the 1980s as a coding language for developing the SAP R/2 platform. It then became a language for a program for the client-server. SAP ABAP Objects, an object-oriented extension, was introduced in 1999. Its switch framework feature was released with ABAP 7.0 in 2006, followed by the Table expressions feature in 2012. Developers benefitted from its support for Open SQL expressions and sorting of the internal table feature with the 7.5 version. ABAP is the first coding language to use the Logical Databases (LDBs) concept.

ABAP is the primary application and extension language of the “Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)” system and is of substantial relevance to SAP R/3. ABAP features are highly integrated with SAP R/3 and all NetWeaver versions. The only way to access the new features of the language is to upgrade to a newer version of the ABAP application server. Usually, applications developed using the features of a newer application server version will not work on older SAP systems.

Advantages of SAP ABAP

Modularization methods for complex applications provide ease and practicality for developers. ABAP helps run ERP applications and provides scalable lifecycle management for IT landscapes of organizations of all sizes. It supports the following functions:  

• Strong report development,
• Developing forms in printable format,
• Screen development,
• Customizing screens according to customer needs,
• Loading data and viewing informative data,
• Generating complex reports.

What is SAP ABAP Consultancy?

SAP ABAP consultancy refers to the support and development services provided to customers by SAP consultants. SAP software is not a one-size-fits-all solution and in many cases, customers have varying needs regarding SAP business applications. SAP ABAP consultants use ABAP to provide unique functionalities and applications to organizations and integrate these solutions with existing SAP systems.

MDP Group’s ABAP consultancy services provide extensive support to help your business make the most of your IT landscape. Kindly refer to the ABAP Consultancy page on our website to read more about ABAP and find out the scope of our services. Alternatively, feel free to contact us for custom solutions and quotes.