A Fresher's Take: ABAP on SAP Cloud Platform

The original post was written October 5th, 2017.
This post has been recreated. I’ve monitored my site analytics for a while and this post consistently shows up on my 404 list. Since then, I’ve redesigned and rebuilt my site multiple times and lost the original content. This is an updated version—what I remember, and some new takes too.

Originally when I wrote this post over 5 years ago, I shared my thoughts around SAP Cloud Platform (now BTP – Business Technology Platform) and how I was going to start preparing for cloud development as an up-and-coming ABAP developer. That original post is long gone to the internet ether, but I still remember the essence of what I was aiming for.

I had a list—maybe 10 things—that I thought would help lay a solid foundation for being productive on the cloud. Out of those 10, only 3 really stuck with me. But those 3 aged really well:

• Git
• JavaScript (Node.js + UI5)
• CDS Views

Git

Git has become a must-have skill for any developer. abapGit continues to grow, and the number of open source ABAP projects is steadily rising. Learning Git took me a while—I had to understand not just the commands, but also the underlying workflow and mindset. Things finally clicked when I built a small website, deployed it with Netlify, and saw how a simple git push could trigger a full deployment pipeline. That moment lit the fire. Since then, Git has become second nature, and learning web development became that much more rewarding.

JavaScript

JavaScript continues to be the most-used language in the world (StackOverflow 2022 Survey). I focused primarily on using JavaScript in Node.js and React projects, and that gave me enough grounding to navigate UI5 codebases with more confidence. UI5 has a steep learning curve—it’s a different mental model from traditional ABAP—but it's worth the effort.

CDS Views

My first encounter with CDS Views was back in 2019, and I found them tough to grasp. I think a lot of that came down to timing and lack of real-world usage. Fast forward to 2022, and CDS finally clicked. They don't have to be overly complicated, and when used well, they make UI5 apps incredibly powerful with minimal backend development.

Looking Ahead

So, what now? I'm definitely not a "fresher" anymore—but I still see a lot of growth ahead. Here’s what’s on my radar next:

• CI/CD Pipelines
• RAP (RESTful Application Programming Model)
• CAP (Cloud Application Programming Model)

Maybe it’s time for a new post soon: A Not-So-Fresher’s Take 😄