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What are ABAP and SAP?

What are SAP and ABAP? I searched and got a bunch of different acronyms that don't quite make sense.

  • Is SAP a database engine?
  • Is ABAP a programming language?
  • Or are they nothing of that nature?

What are they primarily used for?

Solution

  • SAP is a company and offers a full Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, business platform, and the associated modules (financials, general ledger, &c).

    ABAP is the primary programming language used to write SAP software and customizations. It would do it injustice to think of it as COBOL and SQL on steroids, but that gives you an idea. ABAP runs within the SAP system.

    SAP and ABAP abstract the DB and run atop various underlying DBMSs.

    SAP produces other things as well and even publicly says they dabble in Java and even produce a J2EE container, but tried-and-true SAP is ABAP through-and-through.