ABAP jobs and more: Special report

SAP introduced ABAP in 1992 to work with the R/3 platform, and today it is a key programming language for NetWeaver 7.0 customers. But getting started with ABAP and keeping your knowledge current is a major challenge. To kick off SAP careers month at SearchSAP.com, this special report provides news and information about ABAP jobs, as well as some technical tips for those getting started.

ABAP news and analysis

• ABAP development done right: ABAP expert Rehan Zaidi shares some best practices for breaking into professional SAP application development.
  
• On The Spot: Jon Reed on SAP jobs: On The Spot features a new guest expert on a hot SAP topic every month. In this edition, Jon Reed answers SAP jobs questions, including what the "next big thing" in ABAP could be.
  
• SAP consulting trends -- Special Report: In this report, we learn about the full impact of the shift to NetWeaver as it pertains to the consulting market and ABAP programmers.
  
• More SAP buzzwords: What's hot, what's not, and why you should care: In Part 2 of his series, careers expert Jon Reed examines some popular and not so popular SAP terms -- including why ABAP is not a hot term, but is not cold either.
  
• Column: SAP's Shai Agassi is gone -- Hurray!: When Shai Agassi resigned from SAP, Axel Angeli, one of SearchSAP.com's site experts, argued that the departure was good for the company and outlined what it could mean for ABAP.
  
• SAP's SDN helps one techie come into the spotlight: A Colgate-Palmolive ABAP developer went from using SDN to blogging and presenting at SAP events. It all started with one application.
  

ABAP jobs tips

• Avoid layoffs: New SAP job skills to learn now: Where will Basis people go in the new NetWeaver world? Is there room for classic ABAP developers? What consulting skills will be in demand in the years ahead? Find out here.
  
• Is SAP ABAP a career sand trap? How hard would it be for an SAP BW ABAP person to change careers and do systems programming using C++ after two or three years?
  
• SAP ABAP certification: Is SAP ABAP certification from Siemens Information Systems Ltd. useful for someone with an IT degree?
  
• Breaking into a functional SAP career without the technical side (ABAP/Basis): Is it possible to break into a functional SAP career without crossing the technical SAP bridge (ABAP/Basis)?
  
• Which has better prospects -- ABAP or SAP BI?: SAP BI/BW expert Jay Narayanan weighs in on the prospects of ABAP jobs and BI jobs.
  
• ABAP knowledge to learn BW: Is ABAP a prerequisite for working with Business Warehousing in SAP?
  
• ABAP or Basis for a mainframe programmer?: The pros and cons of ABAP over Basis.
  

ABAP programming tips

• ABAP for newbies: With the new build of the SAP NetWeaver 2004s ABAP trial version (SP11), we bring you a series of tips that will update your ABAP developer skills (beginners and experienced) to this new version.
  
• Chapter Download: Advanced Concepts in ABAP Objects: Based on ABAP Objects, this 1,000+ page book describes all concepts of modern ABAP up to Release 7.0 (including a "sneak preview" of Release 7.10).
  
• Combining SAP ABAP and Visual Composer: In this highly graphic and code-filled tip, SDN contributor Thomas Jung details how to use SAP's Portal Eventing to connect output from Visual Composer and ABAP.
  
• ABAP dumps and dialogue instances: Expert Farooq Ali defines an ABAP dump and SAP dialogue instances in this response. He also mentions how SAP jobs are looking pretty good in the Gulf countries these days.
  
• Adopting OO programming in ABAP and Java: Expert Matt Billingham weighs in on OO programming for Java and ABAP and explains why it isn't widely used in the enterprise.
  
• Upgrading to ECC with Java after installing ABAP only: Can Java be added later if you install ECC 6.0 with ABAP only? Expert Bert Vanstechelman discusses the matter.
  
• Using ABAP to extract data from a BW cube: Jay Narayanan discusses how to extract data from SAP BW using an ABAP-developed program.
  
• ABAP object-oriented development resources: SAP development resources can be hard to find, and then most end up ambiguous at best. Matthew Billingham addresses avenues available for learning ABAP objects.
  
• Verifying which ABAP programs are in use: Bert Vanstechelman addresses how to determine ABAP program usage.