Chapter SIXTEEN. Creating and Consuming Services in Java

Sap Netweaver provides extensive support for Java developers. In this chapter, we'll look at creating services in Java and at using Web Dynpro to create a service consumer for the ABAP web service we developed in Chapter 15. But before examining these tasks and the Java development environment, let's look at a larger question: how SAP supports Java itself.

Today, SAP NetWeaver includes a Sun-certified Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) 1.3-compliant application server. The next release will conform with J2EE 1.4. SAP NetWeaver supports all major Java standards, including Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs), the J2EE Connector Architecture (JCA), JNDI, and JDBC. Furthermore, since 2001, SAP has been an active participant in the Java Community Process. SAP NetWeaver uses a model-driven approach to development that makes heavy use of application metadata to simplify and expedite the development process. This declarative, model-driven environment significantly reduces development efforts and makes it easier for business analysts to create business solutions using a code-free environment such as SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer.