The correctness of a program is based on certain assumptions about its state at various points during execution (e.g., that the values of certain variables stay within specific ranges). How can you ensure that these conditions hold true, even after the program has been changed? And is there a way to identify problems before they reach the production system? The answer is ABAP “checkpoint” statements, introduced with SAP Web Application Server 6.20, which are solely dedicated to ensuring program correctness and maintainability. Through step-by-step examples, this article explains the ABAP checkpoints concept and shows you how to use these statements efficiently to improve the quality and maintainability of your code.
Gerd Kluger
Gerd Kluger studied computer science at the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. After receiving his degree, he worked for a company whose main focus was the development of programming languages for business applications. He was responsible for the development of the compiler and programming environment for the object-oriented programming language Eiffel. Gerd joined SAP in 1998, and since then has been working in the SAP NetWeaver Foundation ABAP group. His main responsibility is in the development of ABAP Objects, the new class-based exception concept, and the further development of system interfaces, especially with regard to the file system.
You may contact the author at gerd.kluger@sap.com.
If you have comments about this article or publication, or would like to submit an article idea, please contact the editor.
Wolf Hagen Thuemmel
Wolf Hagen Thümmel studied physics and received his doctorate at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. After a year of postdoctoral research work in the field of experimental particle physics, he joined SAP in 2001 as a member of the NetWeaver Developer Tools ABAP Group. Wolf Hagen works on tools for the ABAP language.
You may contact the author at wolf.hagen.thuemmel@sap.com.
If you have comments about this article or publication, or would like to submit an article idea, please contact the editor.
