BSP or WebDynpro : What do you prefer?

[diego_marzano]

Hello all,

If we think to design a regular application to our client that can be designed with both technologies,

Wich of these you prefered or liked more?

BSP

WebDynpro

Thanks,

Regards,

Diego.

[gerald_fust · Accepted solution]

Diego:

There are two parts to look at this in my opinion, both of which point to Web Dynpro over BSP.

Resources of the Client

Looking at it from the perspective of an organization that has a lot of Web Dynpro, but only 1 BSP (SAP LSO), I would say WD would better utilize the resources you have.  Most clients probably don't have the BSP skill set on staff, and if they do, it is a smaller number of people. 

The Future of BSP?

WD is the more popular technology, and even SAP, from what I understand with the future Renovated Learner Portal within LSO (based on FPM and WDA), is moving away from BSP.

Of course, if the application is an add-in to an existing BSP application (like LSO or eRecruit), then interfacing the two might require BSP, for now.

I hope this helps,

Jerry

[hofmann · Accepted solution]

There are guidelines available from SAP called Best Build Applications. These make it easy:

"Web Dynpro ABAP is the preferred UI development platform for ABAP developers"

http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/display/BBA/Deciding+Which+SAP+UI+Technology+to+Use

=> BSP should not be considered.

After deciding to go with WDA, it's not over: how to use WDA right? Floorplan manager, pagebuilder, CHIPs, etc.

Besides this, there is no correct answer to a question like "design a regular application to our client". Too many factors influence which UI technology should be used. For instance: what is the front-end? Portal, NWBC, mobile? What kind of browser have to be supported? What is the expected lifetime of the application? There are even enough justifications available to recommend SAPGui for HTML.

[diego_marzano · Accepted solution]

Hi Tobias,

The questions is only what technology do you like more personally to develop among these, clearly there are several points to consider in web application.

Also very interesting this document:

http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/display/BBA/Deciding+Which+SAP+UI+Technology+to+Use

Thanks

Regards,

Diego.

[hofmann · Accepted solution]

What you personally prefer should never play an important part when deciding which UI technology to use. While you may personally prefer WDA, it still can be the worst solution for the client. Think about using WDA on a very old release of NW. With no FPM or recent browser support available and a possible mobile scenario. In that case, BSP or other alternatives suddenly turns very attractive.

Oh, and you can even do everything right just to see 3 years later that SAP is making the UI technology "feature complete". So, good luck with whatever UI technology you finally chose to use.

[TomVanDoo]

Like some have already said: WebDynpro for ABAP is the preferred technology for UI's.

That doesn't mean that BSP is a no-go though.

Firstly, there is the CRM WebUI, which is, in essence, BSP.

Secondly, with BSP you have the option of creating completely freestyle web-apps. This is great for rich HTML5 sites, mobisites etc...

There are HTML5 islands in WebDynpro nowadays as well, but because of the nature of WebDynpro, it's still less suited for mobile use.

So SAP might say that WebDynpro is the technology of choice, but that doesn't mean that you're not allowed to use BSP anymore.

It all depends on the context.

I personally like WebDynpro a lot. It really speeds up my development.

But I also like BSP a lot, because it offers endless freedom to design your front-end.

(and yes, I also like JSP, and don't forget SAPUI5, which you can also use in BSP by the way)

[amy_king]

Hi Diego,

There are some other discussions on this topic if you want to read about some of the differences between the two technologies. There is also a webinar recording on SAP's UI strategy that might interest you. According to SAP:

Web Dynpro is SAP's strategic UI technology and therefore should be your UI technology of choice when you create new applications.

But the skill set of the folks who will build and maintain an application should also be a considered when choosing a technology. Personally, I prefer WDA over BSP, but of course this is the Web Dynpro ABAP Community.

Cheers,
Amy

[hofmann]

I prefer JSP or HTML5