Get Started with the ABAP Development Tools for SAP NetWeaver

[OlgaDolinskaja]

The ABAP Development Tools for SAP NetWeaver are SAP's state-of-the-art IDE for ABAP development on the open Eclipse platform. They are designed to significantly increase developers productivity by providing the ABAP developer the unique opportunity to perform development tasks in the comfortable ABAP environment while at the same time benefiting from the proven usability, speed and flexibility of the well-known Eclipse platform. The ABAP Development Tools combines SAP's powerful ABAP application server capabilities like convenient lifecycle management, server-based development paradigm, full integration, effective testing and troubleshooting tools with the powerful Eclipse UI and also provides a modern Eclipse UI client on top of the ABAP platform. The ABAP Development Tools integrates easily with other development tools (SAP HANA Studio, SAP UI5 SDK) on the open Eclipse platform.

Functional Scope: Product, Platform, API

 

The ABAP Development Tools focus on the following three domains:

• Product - a brand new ABAP development experience on top of the Eclipse platform.


• Platform - an open, Eclipse-based platform for developing new ABAP-related tools in Eclipse.


• API - set of open APIs that developers can use to build new custom tools for the ABAP environment. The APIs are language and platform-independent.

 

Architectural Overview

The general idea of ABAP in Eclipse is to provide one Eclipse client that is installed on the developer PC and can connect to several backend systems from different releases. The connection is set up using a RFC/REST based protocol. The client provides a set of standard development tools such as the project explorer for system browsing and search views. In addition editors are available for each development object - classes, reports, function modules and so on. The development paradigm is still server based. This means that the development objects are stored solely on the backend (no local copies through check-in/check-out), and services such as syntax-check, search, where-used etc. run on the backend. One benefit of using Eclipse as the platform for the new ABAP development environment is its openness towards new tools and features via the Eclipse plug-in Framework. The new ABAP development infrastructure provides these plug-in capabilities also on the ABAP backend. That means, by making use of Eclipse plug-in capabilities on the frontend and ABAP development infrastructure plug-in capabilities on the backend, it is possible to contribute to the ABAP development environment with new development tools. Those tools will provide the well-known ABAP capabilities (transport, activation, version management, "Where-Used" list etc.) combined with Eclipse-based state-of-the-art UI and integration capabilities in a new highly integrated development environment.

 

Key Features

• Highly flexible, customizable Eclipse UI for ABAP development tools


• High-performance, failover-safe online development in several ABAP systems simultaneously


• Display and edit functionality for multiple ABAP objects in parallel


• Advanced and efficient source code editing including refactoring support


• Fast search and navigation capabilities


• Cross-system version management


• Ideal support of task-oriented and test-driven development


• Built-in extensibility of the IDE through the established Eclipse plug-in technology


• Powerful SDK for building and integrating custom ABAP development and testing tools

 

Benefits for You

The ABAP Development Tools for SAP NetWeaver tie in perfectly with SAP HANA Studio and SAP’s in-memory technology by allowing highly productive application development on top of SAP HANA. The ABAP Development Tools significantly increases ABAP developer productivity through rich Eclipse user experience and flexibility, new capabilities for sophisticated source code implementation, task-oriented and test-driven business development. The ABAP Development Tools enables cross-platform application development by integrating ABAP and non-ABAP development tools into one Eclipse-based IDE.Built-in extensibility of the IDE through the established Eclipse plug-in technology enables you to benefit from the huge Eclipse ecosystem, develop on open platform and integrate new custom ABAP and non-ABAP tools.

 

Download and Installation

• Download the free version of the ABAP Development Tools via the Updatesite: https://tools.hana.ondemand.com/#abap
  (see also : ABAP Development Tools for SAP NetWeaver - Trial Version,                                          use also guide: How to download and install ABAP Development Tools )


• You can also download and install the ABAP Development Tools via the service marketplace (valid S-User required)


• See also guide How to configure ABAP backend for ABAP Development Tools

 

Learning Materials

• For a first impression watch the ABAP Development Tools - a Natural Evolution Video


• Using Eclipse for the first time? Get started by watching the Eclipse Workbench Tutorials


• The Quick Launch document helps you to start working with the ABAP Development Tools


• ADT Video tutorials will guide you through essential ABAP Development Tools features


• If you have already installed the ABAP Development Tools, take a look at the ABAP Development User Guide:
  Help -> Help Contents -> ABAP Development User Guide (describing ABAP Development Tools concepts and tasks)


• Get an overview of the most common shortcuts by downloading the Reference Card


• You may find anwers to your questions in the FAQ document