SAP CAP (Cloud Application Programming Model) is SAP’s modern full-stack development framework for building enterprise-grade services and applications on SAP BTP. CAP allows developers to model domain data, create OData services, apply business logic, consume external systems, and deploy to the cloud—all with clean core principles.

Using CDS (Core Data Services), you define your domain models once, then CAP automatically generates APIs, services, and database persistence. CAP supports Node.js & Java runtime, but Node.js is most commonly used now in projects.

CAP is tightly integrated with SAP Fiori Elements. CAP supplies the OData V4 service + annotations, and Fiori Elements auto-generates the UI on top. This pairing is currently SAP’s highest recommended architecture for new SAP cloud apps.

CAP = Model → Service → Logic → Deploy → Launchpad
Fast to build. Upgrade safe. Standardized enterprise-grade approach.