Sap Web Client: A Comprehensive Guide for Developers Hardcover – June 28, 2011

Well I won't say anything new comparing to all the other reviews, we all agree that is an indispensable book for a CRM developer is important to have a solid and up to date ABAP background before start this journey, I would recommend this book even for those adventurous developers who wants to try the Web UI framework in the ECC(Off topic: personally I prefer the BOL/Genil as the persistence layer rather than the typical ABAP Objects persistence). I will suggest the on-line version because is very easy to end up consulting some point at the daily work, be aware of the density of the topics, it's not an easy reading, With patience (refer to Ian's review, In some way I agree with him, there are some gaps in the code snippets, but with a little of intuition and imagination you can figure it out) and a SAP CRM or ECC6.0 ehp4 sandbox you will end up absorbing the theory only then you will say to the authors: Thanks for giving us some light in the obscure CRM technical world!

This book is very good for someone who wants to understand the underneath framework and the technical nitty gritty of SAP CRM architecture. The book provides a good insight on the coding methodology, BOL and GENIL Model and other advanced features. The chapters are well arranged and covers most of the topics in depth.This book is not for freshers or someone who is really new.

If you are new to SAP CRM be careful this is not a beginners book. To setup SAP CRM you need the book titled SAP CRM Web Client: Customizing and Development. This book has a lot of Z/Y tables, packages and customizations that were skipped over. The author creates for instance Z tables behind the scenes and implements code which uses these Z tables. The outcome is confusion to the reader who tried to "follow along". In order to follow along one must define these Z tables, for instance, so that that the end user (the reader) can fully understand the content and implement it effectively. Chapter 1 was good but other then that you will be lost.

Excellent!

excellent

Disclosure Statement: I have been provided a complimentary copy of the book by one of the authors Tzanko Stefanov, in order to provide a public review. No other compensation has been received in exchange for this review. This review reflects only my personal opinion of the book in question and should not be considered an endorsement by my employers, SAP, SAP press, other person or other corporate entity.When I first heard that a new book on the CRM Webclient was being published, I was excited. The last book which came out in 2010 was based only CRM 2007 and it did not go into as much detail on the BOL/GENIL and UI component development as I wanted. The problem is that even though we have a plenty of forum, wiki, and blog posts on the topic, there has never been one resource that explains how to build a new CRM Webclient application from start to finish. It's been my one gripe with the SAP CRM webclient framework that the educational materials available leave several topics missing.When I got the book I noticed this was not a brief overview of the web client. The book itself is around 600 pages and most of those pages are filled with deep technical examples. As I started reading the book I realized that this book although aimed at a beginner, is actually best for those of us who have worked hands-on with the Webclient in SAP CRM and want to fill in those knowledge gaps that are missing. Even in the first chapter I learned something new, even though it was an overview to provide a foundation for the rest of the book. I also realized that book will best used when you have a CRM 7.0 EHP1 system available. Most of the material can be applied to CRM 7.0, but you will find examples and coding that only will work fully if you have an EHP1 system available.The first couple of chapters contain the deep technical details of building a CRM Webclient application. Unlike the predecessor book SAP CRM Webclient Development and Customizing, there is an immediate focus on starting at the lowest layer of how the application is built and working up through the application framework. I found that Chapter 2 jumps immediately into the details on how to build a GENIL component. The exercises contained in the chapters are easy to follow, provided you have decent ABAP OO skills. It would have been nice to have a download of the source provided electronically to eliminate the grunt work of building these in my SAP CRM system, but the manual creation helped in re-enforcing the topics covered. If the book only consisted of these chapters it would be worth the price. In fact I liked my copy so much that I purchased the electronic access for this version.The remaining chapters of the book cover what I would consider important but overlooked technical features of SAP CRM. These features such as the Web Service Tool, Integration with Word and Adobe, Client Side Groupware integration were glossed in previous books before this one. Each feature now has a dedicated chapter that should allow the reader to become comfortable with these features and start finding ways to fulfill common requirements from end-users using these tools. I received the book after completing a presentation for SAP Teched Las Vegas 2011 CD119. I will be recommending to those attending the session that they also refer to chapters 12 & 13 of the book in addition to my slides. I was impressed that the book went into a similar level of detail as what I had prepared for my presentation.Overall impressionsThe best question that I can ask myself is would I pay full price the book and would I recommend it to people who I know. The answer would be yes and yes. In fact I would strongly encourage any SAP Customer who runs SAP CRM or is planning on running SAP CRM to purchase the book. My only word of caution is that this book is truly aimed at CRM 7.0 EHP1. Although much of the material is applicable for people on SAP CRM 7.0, you may not be able to get the complete value from book until you are working with a SAP CRM 7.0 EHP1 system. If you want to be a SAP CRM Technical Resource on a project and you do not have this book in your library, you will be at a disadvantage on your next project.