how to set up environment for web dynpro?

Question

Is there a way I can learn on Web Dynpro without having to set up an SAP environment? There was an opening for a job requiring Web Dynpro skills and it was mentioned alongside with other Java skills. I wanted to apply but have no clue on web dynpro, and so wanted to set up an environment to understand what it is all about.

Can someone tell me if I can get free software to learn more about it? Do I need to know about SAP and other SAP specifics to work on web dynpro? Do I need to have a fully configured SAP environment before I can meaningfully develop a sample application? How is developing in web dynpro different from other typical Java environments?

Answer 1

Hi,

here is a 90 days trial: http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/downloads?rid=/library/uuid/50c58b14-da6d-2a10-ca94-a3c0937828d6

To develope effectivly with webdynpro, you need at least some kind of SAP-Knowledge and most importantly a ERP backend system because the most common use case for webdynpro is RFC from SAP Portal to SAP ECC.

SAP DevStudio is a lot different from the classical Eclipse, and so is Webdynpro Development in general. It doesnt feel like java anymore.

Answer 2

Be aware that there are two different "flavors" of WebDynpro - WebDypro for Java and WebDynpro for ABAP. I can't speak for the Java version, but obviously the ABAP version requires an ABAP stack. You can get a complete stack from http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/linux?rid=/webcontent/uuid/b0448801-3905-2a10-b681-a803b2409ead

Answer 3

You will have to set up an environment containing at least of the SAP Netweaver Developer Studio (a customized Eclipse 3.3) and the SAP NetWeaver Application Server. As oozoo already mentioned, there is a trial version containing both components.

With this trial version you can try some tutorials from the SAP Developer Network. The following page is a good starting point: http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/display/WDJava/Welcome+to+Web+Dynpro+Java!

For developing in Web Dynpro it is not mandatory to know about SAP ERP systems. In my company for example, we use it to build GUIs for various preexisting Oracle DBs. But I agree that Web Dynpro differs a lot from most other Java Web Frameworks. It has a very unique component model that takes some time to get used to.

What's also quite special is that you don't code any HTML or JavaScript by hand. You only use the many GUI components provided by Web Dynpro. It is comparable to GWT in that respect. Only in the most recent version you can use so called WebWidgets in to include some custom HTML for special use cases.

Usually Web Dynpro is used in combination with the NetWeaver Development Infrastructure (NWDI) which consists amongst others of a proprietary source control system (Design Time Repository - DTR), a software lifecycle mangagement tool (Change Management Service - CMS) and a continous integration server (Component Build Service - CBS).