SAP NetWeaver Server Adapter for Eclipse is a free software utility that enables you to integrate the Eclipse IDE with the SAP NetWeaver Application Server. This tool implements a server runtime environment, allowing for the development of Java EE applications for the server from within any integrated development environment (IDE) based on Eclipse WTP extension. Thus, you can work on your server using this alternate platform.

Link two together

SAP NetWeaver Application Server—or SAP Web Application Server—is a component of SAP NetWeaver, which works as a web application server for SAP products. The architecture of this server can be separated into five areas and before, you had to use the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio in order to develop standard applications for it. However, with SAP NetWeaver Server Adapter for Eclipse, you can now bypass that program or any other SAP software.

The primary IDE you’ll be using is Eclipse, which was developed by the Eclipse Foundation. Written mostly in Java, it contains a base workspace and an extensible plugin system for customizing the environment. Its main use is for developing Java applications, but it may also be used to develop applications in other programming languages via plugins. Specifically, this tool implements editor plugins using the development features available in Eclipse WTP. 

The Eclipse Web Tools Platform (WTP) project, an extension of Eclipse designed for developing Web and Java EE applications. With it, this server utility supports different releases of Eclipse, such as Europa, Ganymede, Galileo, and Callisto. You can start, stop, and restart the server lifecycle, as well as enable and disable debugging. Plus, you can deploy and cancel Enterprise Application Archive (EAR) files.

Has its ups and downs

All in all, SAP NetWeaver Server Adapter for Eclipse is a great replacement for SAP NetWeaver’s usual IDE program, especially if you prefer Eclipse’s functionalities. It’s not too active in development and maintenance, however, and beginners may be hard-pressed to use two different programs—as opposed to SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio’s optimized use for other SAP software.