We are currently in the midst of our SAP TechEd 2021 program and the live 48 hour program via Channel 1. This is an odd one for me, due to unforeseen circumstances I‘m not actually physically at the event. So I’ve had to adapt and catch it all virtually so seeing all the posts by others about how they watch, their home setups have been fantastic!
My personal setup has been using my Apple TV to stream the YouTube premieres. Then I’ve had my phone for chatting on different platforms as well as a backup to stream the event website (there was a glitch with Google yesterday) to the Apple TV. Then I’ve had the iPad as a primary interface for Discord, Groups, Event Chat and of course our own back channels with the moderators and everyone.
There is a lot of work that goes into events like this - think Iceberg and what everyone sees versus the massive amount you don’t see on the surface and being part of one of the teams that has invested so much of ourselves into this event - I watched with pure pride!
So what’s happened so far? Well I could go through everything step by step or I can share a few links where that’s already been done - so first up:
- Official SAP News
- SAP TechEd News Guide
- A New Chapter for Learning
- BTP Free Trial to Free Tier – It’s a Good Time to Switch
- Integration is the Foundation of Innovation
You can also catch replays already on Youtube here’s the Channel 1 playlist!
For me two big pieces that I consider to be highlights - the first was of course Embedded Steampunk!
I love this tweet, and it captures how near and dear ABAP is to our community. Rich talked a bit about the topic during Jürgen’s keynote and he hinted at more in the upcoming Developer Keynote so don’t miss it!
The second topic was actually the Low Code/No Code topic. This one is an odd topic, coming from a developer background being in a heavily technical area I’m torn on this one.
OK I’m torn for probably different reasons than you might be thinking at the moment.
Way back in 1998 I was in my first corporate/big company job and was tasked with helping some departments in the manufacturing area. They needed to do some data collection and needed to do it on some of the slowest computers (at the time) . What resulted from my naive brain was a HTML based form that would automatically generate a database table, add the form fields as database fields with tons of hidden fields to help define different things in that table. Then a second HTML file that would allow for simple reporting of the content in that table.
To my delight and dismay this became super successful! The department heads were ecstatic, accolades, awards, fame and fortune fell upon me…. I mean the department was able to grab the 2 HTML files and modify them to create 2 new files and thus a whole new table and data collection point. Again the world was mine and I was the king of my castle … then it happened.
The sky began to fall and my creation forever became known as the “Frankenstein monster app” which btw is still in use to this day. However, it’s only in use today because I had to step in and actually make an companion tool - the “low code/no code” which I guess is what that was was not simply not enough. As a developer I needed to make an additional piece the complex part. I needed to develop an application that would allow for combining all of that disconnected data in various different tables to allow the department to get value out of their data. I also needed to plan ahead as they may (and did) continue to create individual little apps and thus additional little different tables. I also needed to enhance the original tool to allow for using an ID from one table as a reference in another table.
I’m happy for the experience, for the chance to really be that creative in a job and to truly be able to create something that is still in use over 20 years later. Granted it’s had other developers maintaining the tools but last I heard there were 0ver 50 sets of HTML forms and many of them have now been enhanced with more recent JavaScript and all of that other than plain HTML.
With all the back and forth around this topic these days I often think back to that experience and I realize that there is absolutely a place for the Low Code/No Code concept and the citizen developer but to truly be effective it will need developers themselves to work together with them. Give them the tools they need, help guide them away from pitfalls but at the same time enable them to do what they need to do without overloading the developer with millions of requests.
I use a lot of tools these days in my day to day and occasionally I need just a bit more and that’s when I am able to open of the IDE, dust off the keyboard and build something additional to help me accomplish the overall task without creating a new monster of situation.
This is an exciting topic of me personally, granted my history makes it that but still enabling others to do what they need to do? That should be the passion and motivation of every developer out there! Making a tool that someone uses is brilliant, making a tool that someone uses to make something useful is just mind boggling and exciting!
