The SAP(R) R/3(R) System: A Client/Server Technology

SAP R/3 System: A Client/Server Technology is not so much a how-to book on SAP's flagship R/3 system as a philosophical guide to implementing software-oriented client/server computing. Thoughtfully constructed by Germany-based SAP AG employees (Dr. Rüdiger Buck-Emdem and Jürgen Galimow), this book's esoteric prose is aimed squarely at highbrow, technologically savvy readers responsible for making organizational IT decisions. Aside from a few oddities of phrase, the editors at Addison Wesley have done a fabulous job of translating the authors' text from the original German to English. The text that doesn't make the transition smoothly is illustrated in the numerous diagrams and charts that fill this slim volume's pages.

In a brief overview of client/server technology, the authors lay the groundwork for a complete discussion of R/3, from architecture to application to implementation. They dissect the modular nature of R/3, explaining the various architectural layering and segmenting at the root of its effectiveness. From there, the book delves into the programming and development options available via Advanced Business Application Programming/4GL (ABAP4). Keeping up with the R/3 lexicon is tough, but the six back-of-the-book pages devoted to listing and defining the acronyms used are an effective guidepost. Unlike many technology tomes, SAP R/3: A Client/Server Technology doesn't get down and dirty with actual configuration screens and the like. But it does provide a decent high-level view of R/3 from two gentlemen well within the world of SAP. --Sarah L. Roberts-Witt