What is SAP and ABAP. I searched and got bunch of different acronyms that don't quite make sense.
Is SAP a database engine, and is ABAP a programming language, or nothing of that nature? What are they primarily used for?
+5
A:
with SAP, you might be referring to a popular business software:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_AG
And according to Wikipedia, ABAP is a programming language (short for Advanced Business Application Programming) created by SAP company.
rockacola
2009-11-18 03:18:33
So what separates it from other platforms such as SQL DB with a programming language (.NET, Python, Perl)?
Baddie
2009-11-18 03:51:23
@Unknown: Are you asking what separates a complete business application from a platform? Is that your question?
S.Lott
2009-11-18 03:52:57
@ S. Lott: Thanks, your rhetorical question provided some key insight of what to look at!
Baddie
2009-11-18 04:28:45
+5
A:
SAP is a full ERP systems' and business platform and then some. SAP is also the company who produces the business platform and associated modules (financials, general ledger, &c).
ABAP is the primary language in which most SAP software including customizations are written. It would do it injustice to think of it as COBOL and SQL on steroids, but that gives you an idea. ABAP runs within the SAP system.
SAP and ABAP abstract the DB and run atop various underlying DBMSs.
SAP produces lots of other things as well and even publicly says they dabble in Java and even produce a J2EE container, but tried-and-true SAP is ABAP through-and-through.
Xepoch
2009-11-18 03:19:12
So what separates it from other platforms such as SQL DB with a programming language (.NET, Python, Perl)
Baddie
2009-11-18 03:23:17
Think of SAP as an Operating System into which all SAP content/modules/applications run. All the facilities and APIs are contained within the SAP "basis" system. Also, most "content" like common DB schemas are available: a common schema (like a person record) would exist and is used across applications.
Xepoch
2009-11-18 15:00:36
The platform is also known as SAP R/3 (or some other version like R/2) to distinguish it from the vendor itself.
roe
2010-03-29 11:01:25
A:
In addition to all the regular confusion around SAP issues might also stem form the fact that SAP used to have their own DBMS ..
It used to be called Adabas (marketed originally by Nixdorf and then by Software AG) and was a quite popular DBMS for smaller SAP (the ERP solution) installations in Germany. At some point (AFAIK around 2000) SAP started to co-develop/support/take over Adabas and marketed it as SAP DB and later MaxDB under commercial and open-source licenses. There also was/is some agreement with MySQL.
But when people talk about SAP, they usually refer to the ERP solution as the other posters have noted.
IronGoofy
2009-11-19 07:45:00
A:
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_AG.
In short, SAP is a modular based application that sits on top of a database (as many applications do). Many people mistake SAP as being a database, but in fact it is just the application.
By 'modular based application' I mean that 'SAP Netweaver' is a bit like 'Microsoft Office' in that it is an application or set of applications that contains many components/modules. With SAP you can add modules (such as Finance, HR, Banking, Logistics, etc.) to meet your business requirements.
ABAP is a bespoke programming language that is used within SAP. SAP also now has components that are purely ABAP based, purely JAVA based or a mixture of the two. SAP can also integrate with other technologies such as .net and PHP.
The BASIS (system and technical architecture) part of SAP has a Stack Exchange site here http://sapbasis.stackexchange.com/
Techboy
2009-11-22 20:43:57