JAVA ,ABAP and WAS

1,Will my application run on SAP Web AS?
The SAP Web Application Server is the foundation for all new and upcoming SAP solutions, like SAP R/3 Enterprise (MySAP ERP respectively), SAP Portal, SAP Exchange Infrastructure, and all other SAP components. Basically an SAP application will run on top of the SAP Web Application Server, if SAP ships the application or solution based on the SAP Web Application Server (for current information about SAP components availability see: Platform and Technology Information Center. Furthermore, a non-SAP application that is based on J2EE could run on the Web Application Server if this application is J2EE compliant. SAP Web Application Server 6.40 provides a J2EE Engine which is an J2EE 1.3-compliant application server, that is, every J2EE-1.3 compliant application will run on it. The only thing to do is configure external resources used by your application (for example, the database, the JMS resource) inside SAP Web Application Server 6.40 and to (re)deploy your application on SAP Web Application Server 6.40. However, many third party J2EE application servers provide additional, proprietary server functions, making applications possibly not immediately portable. Check if your J2EE 1.3 application is using such non-standard extensions.
2,Will my SAP application also run on third party application servers?
There are two cases here to consider. If your application is written in ABAP the answer clearly is no. If your application is written in Java the answer is not that easy. Any J2EE application can of course be ported to other servers. This definitely means that there will be some porting effort, dependent on the specific case and the J2EE technologies used. SAP will not automatically support this. Be aware that J2EE will help a lot to standardize your application but at the same time will not guarantee a seamless port-by-copy approach.
3,Should I use Java or ABAP as the programming language for Web application development?
The Java development and runtime environment is gradually being built up, extended, and integrated in the SAP Web Application Server by SAP. However, it will still take some time in the market before the Java/J2EE platform offers the performance and reliability that the ABAP environment has already had for a long time. On the other hand Java development today is prefered for many projects done in the corporate area. Your decision on using one or the other should be based on the kind of ressources you have available.When mixing technologies it is a good idea to do a proof of concept for that project to be sure that it works in the way you expect.Pricing and Availability
4,How can customers order the SAP Web Application Server?
The SAP Web Application Server is available as part of any SAP solution. Any mySAP.com license includes the runtime usage (Runtime license) of the SAP Web Application Server for this solution. In addition, the SAP Web Application Server can be used for developing and deploying third party and custom-developed solutions. In that case, a separate license (Full usage license) is needed. The SAP Web Application Server is available through the standard SAP sales channels.
5,What are the differences between the licenses?
There are two different licenses available for using the SAP Web AS. The Runtime license is included in any SAP application license such as SAP R/3 or mySAP.com and is not available separately. This license includes the execution for all SAP software and all modifications and enhancements of supported business scenarios. The Full usage license is a separate license that allows the running of custom developed or third party applications on the SAP Web AS. This license also allows you to run all third party applications and all custom developed applications beyond modification or enhancements or beyond supported business scenarios. Architecture and Development
6, What are the features of the different SAP Web Application Server releases?
SAP Web Application Server 6.10 was the first release and supports native Web technologies like HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, XML, SOAP. The Business Server Page (BSP) programming model is available for developing Web applications. This model consists of server side scripting and is similar to JavaServer Pages (JSP). The BSP programming model is based on ABAP and is completely integrated into the ABAP Development Workbench. All the reliable and proven features from the SAP application server are still available in SAP Web Application Server 6.10. It provides the platform for developing, executing, and operating ABAP based Web applications and Web services as well as classical SAP GUI based applications. SAP Web Application Server 6.20 is available since June 2002. It is enhanced through a 1.2 compliant J2EE Server. The SAP Web Application Server 6.20 enables the development and deployment of ABAP-based or J2EE-based applications on the same machine. The Web development is enhanced through a tag library for the JavaServer Page (JSP) and Business Server Page (BSP) programming model. The tag library contains predefined user interface elements like easy buttons and input fields as well as more complex elements like trees, tables, and so on, with predefined built-in functions. Using tag libraries accelerates the development of professional and browser-independent Web applications. All the reliable and proven features from the SAP application server are still available in the SAP Web Application Server 6.20. It provides a platform to develop, execute, and operate ABAP or Java based Web applications and Web services as well as traditional SAP GUI based applications.
7,Is a development environment for Java included?
SAP Web Application Server 6.20 comes with many tools and plugins for Borland Jbuilder. Every plugin is also available in a standalone version that makes it possible to use those as tools for other development environments. SAP Web Application Server 6.40 also delivers NetWeaver Developer Studio, a development environment for Java that is based on the Eclipse SDK, an Open Source tool originated by IBM. NetWeaver Devloper Studio comes with additional plugins like such for development of J2EE applications, Web Dynpro, a Data Dictionary, Web Services tools, and many other features.
8,Do ABAP developers have to learn Java?
No. Since with SAP Web Application Server there is no technology or feature that would be undoable with ABAP, there is no immediate need to learn Java. With BSP, there is also a sufficient technology for Web based development. In fact we think that in the foreseeable future any kind of applications can also be done with ABAP. However, in the future SAP may come up with more Java based technologies and applications, which may not be available on the ABAP side. These then would need the knowledge of the Java language and technologies. Could I transport Java classes in the same way as in ABAP? With Java Development Infrastructure SAP now provides similar features for Java as for the transport system in ABAP. The difference is that all Java related program objects are stored in a file system at runtime, while for development they carried out on the local development workplace, compared with ABAP where all related program objects are stored in the central database and the development is done in the central server by using remote access. Nevertheless Java Development Infrastructure does include a database based version control system. Additionally there is an automatic Component Build Service and a Change Management System.