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Let go of SE24

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In SE24 the class code is partially hidden from the programmer behind a GUI. This is apparently convenient but ultimately limitative.

Why

Because it:

  • ๐Ÿผ Prevents the programmer from really know the full syntax of an ABAP class
  • ๐Ÿšข Requires a lot of navigation which is slow and confusing
  • ๐ŸŒŽ Makes it hard to look at the class as a whole

And then there is the shame issue, of course:

- Hello, do you know ABAP?
- Yes I do.
- Can you write an "Hello World" class in ABAP, right here, right now?
- No, not without SE24.
- Oh, I thought you knew ABAP. Bye.

By letting go of the user-friendly SE24 GUI, you’ll regain control over all the aspects mentioned above.

How

First remember: no pain, no gain ๐Ÿ˜“:

  • ๐Ÿค” Acknowledge that, after so many years relying on SE24 to navigate an ABAP class, switching to raw code will not be immediately intuitive;
  • ๐Ÿง˜โ€โ™‚๏ธ Understand and believe that soon the strangeness will be gone and you’ll be loathing every time you’re forced to endure the awkward SE24 navigation.

Start as a Padawan

  • Keep working in SE24 but…
  • switch to Source-Code-Based and…
  • slowly learn the syntax needed to fully define and implement a class, its methods, attributes, etc…
  • switching back to Form-Based navigation whenever you’re stuck or are not sure about something.

Then become a Jedi

  • Install Eclipse and ADT (ABAP Development Tools)
  • Connect Eclipse to your development systems
  • Add the packages on which you need to work
  • Enjoy a modern IDE: raw code + navigation + inspection + extra functionalities:
    • Refactoring (rename galore!)
    • All errors immediately flagged in the code without having to compile it
    • Open dozens of (splittable) windows
    • See details on any variable in loco, without context switching
    • Etc

Greetings from Abapinho