Costs/benefits analysis

Costs / benefit analysis (PDF)

Just take one of your recent programs and analyze it LIVE with the CT-Assist_Module. This Add-On automatically types in your program again. Aa special feature then marks those code parts which should have been inserted automatically by our CT-Assist_Module software assistants. Finally, a productivity statistic is generated.

The productivity statistic ...

Below we show you the statistic of a test program. This test program contains approximately 1000 lines of typical source code (no special variable names or statements were used).

Costs/benefit analysis (PDF)

• The time to write ABAP™ source code ("typing") is reduced dramtically

According to our statistics 40 to 60% of an ABAP™ program can be automatically entered by our code completion features. We estimate that you can save 120 minutes per day compared to a standard ABAP™ editor (assuming, that you work only 4-5 hours per day with the standard editor).

• Time consuming search tasks (e.g. during the conception phase) are reduced

When writing ABAP™ source code, the programmer often needs to know the exact names of certain variables, Data Dictionary structures (which are often not easy to remember, e.g. VBAK-KUNNR) and of course the exact ABAP™ statement names. Traditionally he/she had to look at many places to get this information (ABAP™ help, SAP® Data Dictionary, other ABAP™ include files, ...). This takes time.

The CT-Assist_Module provides much of this information right "at the fingertips" of the programmer. For example, pop up windows (automatically triggered by entering ABAP™ code) offer Data Dictionary structures with their explanation. Declared variable names are automatically shown and can then easily be inserted via mouse or TAB key. Features like the Browser_Assist helps to query the complete source code of all related ABAP™ include members and shows you all declared variables right away.

Even if you only spend 2 hours per day to search for this information, we estimate that you will be able to save at least 60 minutes per day (a conservative estimate in our opinion ) by using the CT-Assist_Module.

• The quality of ABAP™ coding is improved, ABAP™ programs will become more "readable"

Just by using self-descriptive, informative, longer variable names the source code can become more readable and provide a better understanding of the program logic. This also means, that training time for external or new programmers (who must understand the ABAP ™ program first, before they can make changes) can be reduced. Thus the maintenance of the program is simplified.

By using the CT-Assist_Module, a programmer can use long variable names at no additional "typing" costs. He/she just has to enter only the first few letters of the variable name, and the rest is automatically inserted by the module.

Context sensitive help, live replace functions and the logic group compression(e.g. IF-ENDIF, FORM-ENDFORM ...) are further functions which will improve program handling and reduce the possibility of bugs during the design phase.

Obviously it is difficult to specify how much time could be saved by improving the quality of your ABAP™ code.

We estimate nn minutes per day. Please, decide for yourself, how much time could be saved here; keep the lifetime of your software (maintenance) in mind.

• Further time savings can be achieved by using the integrated ABAP™ command tree (one-step procedures)

Ssimply select (double-click, drag&drop, automatic code insert) ABAP™ statements from the interactive ABAP™ command tree (containing more than 3.500 entries). It is easy to choose ABAP™ commands AND their proper variants or additions. You will get syntax conformant code and this will reduce syntax errors in the development phase.

Our ABAP™ reference assist further suggests the most likely ABAP™ command as a tooltip. By pressing the TAB key the command suggestion can be quickly inserted into the code.

More than 50 external developers have evaluated these functions and found them to be extremely useful.

We estimate that 15 -25 minutes per day can be saved by using these features.

Below we will summarize the afore mentioned facts to formulate a relationship between costs and benefits. Our estimates are based on a survey of 50 independent ABAP™ developers who use the CT-Assist_Module.