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boris_gebhardt
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Since October 12, the new SAP S/4HANA 2022 release is available for SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition and for on-premise customers. With this release SAP provides the first version of the ABAP cloud development model (used in Embedded Steampunk*) in these SAP S/4HANA editions.

This is a big step forward because now we have the modern, upgrade-stable, and cloud-ready ABAP cloud development model available in all major ABAP environments:

  • SAP BTP ABAP Environment (Steampunk*), since the launch in 2018

  • SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, since the 2208 release for new customers (Embedded Steampunk*)

  • SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition and on-premise, since the SAP S/4HANA 2022 release (Embedded Steampunk*)


* Steampunk and Embedded Steampunk are the SAP internal project names to deliver the ABAP environment on SAP BTP and in SAP S/4HANA Cloud. These project names are often used in development-related blogs and articles.

This means we have now ONE common ABAP cloud development model available in all these environments. In the public cloud, SAP runs automated software updates and ABAP cloud development is the only supported ABAP variant. In the private cloud and in on-premise, ABAP cloud is a new option to reduce upgrade efforts and to make it easier to reach a clean core for extensions which must run on the SAP S/4HANA stack.

For partners, the common ABAP cloud development model makes it easier to provide one partner solution serving the different SAP S/4HANA editions.

For ABAP developers, ABAP cloud continues to set the standard for a stable and reliable development platform to build and run business applications. ABAP cloud provides a consistent state-of-the-art ABAP development model combining the proven ABAP assets with all the modernizations, SAP HANA and cloud optimizations SAP has provided during the last decade (e.g., ABAP development tools, Core Data Services, RAP and API contracts).

To understand the basic idea of ABAP cloud development and Embedded Steampunk, please read our blog  Embedded Steampunk – Some more details for ABAP developers | SAP Blogs.

Here you learn that ABAP Cloud development means:

  • Use public SAP APIs (local or remote) released by SAP to access SAP functionality and SAP data.

  • Use public SAP extension points released by SAP to extend SAP objects. Modifications to SAP objects are not supported.

  • Use ADT (ABAP Development Tools) as your ABAP IDE.

  • Use RAP (ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model) to build Fiori apps and services. SAP technologies like Dynpro or Web Dynpro are not released for ABAP cloud development.


Additionally, we created a SAP community landing page which you can use to get more information and to discuss all ABAP cloud or Embedded Steampunk topics: https://community.sap.com/topics/s4hana-cloud-abap-environment

In this blog I  focus on the ABAP cloud development model (used in Embedded Steampunk) in the new SAP S/4HANA 2022 release.

I try to answer some typical questions we received from private cloud and on-premise customers.

What is delivered with the SAP S/4HANA 2022 release? What is “Embedded Steampunk” technically?
With the SAP S/4HANA 2022 release, customers can directly use the following new capabilities in their system (Details: Documentation for developer extensibility😞

  • The technical enablement of ABAP cloud for private cloud and on-premise. This includes the strict ABAP cloud syntax and runtime checks which enforce the ABAP cloud rules. The ABAP development tools offer the feature for private cloud and on-premise customers to switch the language version to ABAP cloud on custom ABAP object level or to stay with ABAP classic.

  • A first comprehensive set of the most important local public ABAP Platform and SAP S/4HANA APIs and extension points. Those APIs are reused from the SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition - if they are usable in a private cloud or on-premise environment. SAP plans to extend the public SAP API and extension points scope continuously.


How can I introduce ABAP cloud development in my private cloud or on-premise system?
Let us start with the public edition of SAP S/4HANA Cloud to understand the new extensibility offering in the private cloud and on-premise. In SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, SAP provides a pure cloud extensibility model which allows automated SAP software updates. This cloud extensibility model consists of key-user extensibility, Embedded Steampunk for extensions running on the S/4HANA Cloud stack, and side-by-side extensions on SAP BTP.

With the SAP S/4HANA 2022 release and the first version of Embedded Steampunk the same cloud extensibility model can now be reused in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition and on-premise.

But it cannot be expected that private cloud or on-premise customers switch completely to this pure cloud extensibility model overnight.

The main reasons are:

  • existing classic custom ABAP code

  • missing SAP APIs for the broad private cloud / on-premise scope. The public SAP APIs and extension points focus on the public edition scope.


Therefore, a feasible compromise is needed which can be executed in a given private cloud or on-premise environment. The fundamental principle is that ABAP cloud and ABAP classic code can coexist since the ABAP language version is defined on ABAP object level. This offers a gradual transition from the classic to the cloud extensibility model.
SAP recommends the following 3-tier extensibility model to transform step by step to a clean core in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition and in on-premise.


I am sure now I have your attention if you want to reach a clean core.

Therefore, I stop here and recommend you to directly switch to our brand new ABAP extensibility guide which explains in detail how this 3-tier extensibility model works.

This guide has been compiled by SAP internally with many SAP experts and includes partner and customer feedback. But the ABAP cloud topic and especially the 3-tier extensibility model are very new topics. We plan to continuously update the guide to add new best practices which we collect in the upcoming customer projects. Please use our community to share your thoughts or questions about the guide.
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