ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming) is a programming language used by SAP to develop commercial applications on the SAP platform. It is a multi-paradigm programming language, which means programmers can use procedural, object-oriented and other programming principles.

The programming language is based on the ABAP Runtime Environment and the ABAP Workbench. The current SAP NetWeaver development platform supports both ABAP and Java. SAP's own programming language is also known as ABAP/4. The "4" in ABAP/4 stands for "Fourth Generation Language". It was specially developed to enable mass processing of data in SAP business applications. By working with ABAP in SAP NetWeaver have companies that provide business solutions SAP ERP and SAP S/4HANA have the opportunity to adapt these systems to their needs.

SAP ABAP is therefore a fully customizable programming language that allows developers to develop their own applications on the SAP platform that in turn interact dynamically with other systems. SAP ABAP can be used to create highly specialized applications that manage databases, processes and user interfaces. ABAP can also be used to develop custom functions that are specific to the special requirements of each application - from database queries to dynamic programming and process automation to user interface design and much more.

ABAP Objects (ABAP OO for short, OO stands for "object oriented") has made it possible to simplify the development of applications through modularization since ABAP Release 6.10. It makes it possible to encapsulate source code in clear, reusable modules of statements, which reduces effort and allows the structures of objects to be predefined abstractly. ABAP Objects has been fully integrated into the SAP standard since Release 4.6 and improves application performance by avoiding unnecessary database queries and reducing concurrent access to databases. However, it has some special features compared to other object-oriented programming languages, such as single inheritance, the ability to combine interfaces and an Object Services Framework.