For those who think Java is dead in SAP world

First of all, this blog does not focus about what is good or not. Instead the focus is mainly on the recent technological advancement which we all have witnessed and which calls for all the best things available today to come forth.

For the past few years, with tremendous growth of SAP delivered standard applications designed in Sap Webdynpro ABAP, there has been a serious buzz going around that slowly but definitely Java will be wiped off from the SAP’s landscape. With more focus from the point of  view of whether to adapt Webdynpro Java or Webdynpro ABAP as a design strategy, this assertion slowly caught the attention that why none of the newly developed screens were in WDJ, rather WDA- be it ESS, MSS packages, SRM, CRM , etc business packages hosted onto SAP Netweaver Portal.

With the introduction of EhP5 for ESS, came in the use of NWBC- which totally does not need SAP Portal(a Java based tool) to host the screens. With such steps coming in, foundation was becoming stronger in the technology world that is only ABAP and ABAP based engines which would stay in the long run. Little thought was given to the fact that UWL(Universal WorkList), a prime feature for SAP Portal, is still, a Webdynpro Java based application.

As we all know in recent years, there has been tremendous focus on the new technology innovation areas- specifically mobility, analytics & cloud based solutions. Even for SAP, this was the time to think beyond the in-premise application and take them to cloud. With all sort of new features coming up as part of technology innovation, we see a mix of native applications, web applications, online, offline applications which make the best use of latest available design features. All need the data to be processed in real time, interoperability across all platforms and of course anytime anywhere access with full security. The buzz these days is about Sap’s product HANA, the analytical appliance with great features and answers today’s Big Data concern. It has got some exceptional features and can even support non- SAP systems in the landscape. The end result is excellent!! How many of us have put their thoughts about the base on which it runs? As per the master guide- SAP HANA Box needs Java to be installed too- as it is needed for the SAP HANA Studio on SAP HANA System. Besides this, there is a wide usage of JDBC connectors to support data from all sources.

When we talk about interoperability across devices (from the mobility point of view), again there is a big role to play by the application developers who have strong knowledge of JDBC connectors to support SAP and non-SAP systems related data.

With the advent of cloud and more heterogeneous sources getting into the landscape, the use of Java in its various versions has become a necessity to achieve interoperability across all platforms.

Java will not die, because Java cannot die in SAP’s world. In other words, SAP has given it a more prominent position in the system landscape.