SDN, TechEd and I

[eddy_declercq]

I didn't intend to write another web log before the actual TechEd next week, but people kept asking me which sessions I would attend. So I'm giving a short overview of the sessions I have on my wish list.

CD202	An Overview of the New Features in ABAP In mySAP Business Suite 2005 will cover topics such as shared objects, BAP unit XML processing, improved BADI. My attention is specially directed towards: - the new editor which has already been (more than) nicely covered by Thomas. I saw the Demo Jam session at SDN meets Labs, Walldorf. Now we will the see the final product. - regular expressions. I'm eager to see what this long awaited feature will bring. Will it be the same as in e.g. PHP, etc? - new ABAP debugger. Is it the same as I saw last year at TechEd or will BSP debugging be included this time?
CD155	The Basics of Web Dynpro for ABAP We've seen it at TechEd 04 and SDN meets Labs, but now I can really, finally touch it IRL.
CD158	When and How to Use ABAP Objects I would then finally know where exactly the dividing line is between using procedural and ABAP Objects oriented code.
CD259	Regular Expressions in ABAP , see also CD202
CD200	ABAP Objects – Programming Guidelines There is good OO and there is bad OO. I want to discover how best to work with ABAP Objects
ESA112	What's New with SAP NetWeaver in 2005 Just want to understand the global picture
CD219	XML Processing in ABAP I'm interested in how Tobias has implemented XML and which techniques he used
AGS107	Now Available in SAP NetWeaver – A Different Approach to Fighting Spam I know this guy from somewhere
LCM255	SAP NetWeaver – Setting Up and Using its Job Scheduling Capabilities I use job scheduling a lot and I hope to discover things I don't know yet.

It doesn't seem much, but then I need a couple of clones to attend everything I want to. Even completing the above list will be a difficult feat.

8 little piggies

Then there is that SDN thing. To me there is a special connection between TechEd and SDN. It was finally at last year's edition that I made the switch and said to myself that I needed to contribute something. At that time I had a puny 12 points, but didn't expect to be a lot higher since I had only one article in mind. Today we are now 35 web logs, 8 articles, a couple of code samples and give or take 7100 points later. All this in 9 months. Another 400 and I need to go to the garage for maintenance. I never thought that I would be able to dream up so many things though.

Sure, it didn't always go as smoothly or as well as I might have wished. Sometimes I needed to air my frustrations with Mark and Craig. They were always there to cheer me up and help me to look at the brighter side of things. Looking back it has been a great adventure and it promises to continue based on the great content that so many people are delivering. Above all it's fantastic that people are doing all this on top of their usual day job.

If you haven't yet contributed to SDN, why not make this edition of TechEd the perfect starting signal, like it was for me? Maybe Detlev, Benny , Thilo, Gregor, Max , Mario, Craig and I can convince you at the Q&A sessions . You can ask us whatever you want and we'll try to answer and give tips, hints, etc. You can also meet me at my BoF or TechEd session or simply at the SDN club house . Rest assured, being an SDNer is also TechEd 05: Get  your thinking hats on and get ready to.... .

As you can see it's an action packed TechEd this year, not only in Vienna, but also in Boston and Bangalore.