Difference between SAP Fiori and SAP UI5 | cbs Corporate Business Solutions (2024)

SAP Fiori and SAPI5 are not interchangeable terms. Even today, the two names are frequently confused and even interchanged.

Let’s break down SAP UI5 and Fiori one by one before establishing a relationship between them. The difference between SAP Fiori and SAP UI5 can then be understood.

SAP UI5

SAPUI5 is a toolkit for creating user interfaces. The framework, which was first developed by SAP in 2010 under the code name Phoenix, allows developers to create HTML5 online apps.

SAP Open User Interface 5 is the enhanced version of SAP User Interface 5, which is SAP’s user interface for constructing web applications. It can also be viewed as a framework for developing responsive web applications. “Responsive” apps are those that change their user interface to PCs, tablets, and mobile phones.

So, in layman’s words, SAP UI5 is a set of libraries that can be used to create browser-based desktop and mobile applications.

We need to know if the SAP UI5 framework implements the MVC architecture before we dive into it. The MVC architecture, or Model-View-Controller architecture, is used to develop SAP UI5 applications.

MVC architecture (Model-View-Controller)

MVC is the abbreviation for Model View Controller. It’s a software architecture pattern in which the software is built up of loosely coupled Model, View, and Controller components. The three components communicate and interact with one another.

• Model – Model is responsible to manage the application data.
• View – All logic pertaining to view design will be placed in the view file.
• Controller – All functions and event handling is written in Controller file.

MVC has become a widely used architectural pattern for creating desktop, web, and mobile apps.

SAP UI5 Framework

SAPUI5 is a framework for creating online apps that are responsive. Web applications that are responsive adapt their user interfaces to desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. There’s only one app to rule them all.

It would make sense to say that the SAP UI5 framework is made up of HTML, CSS, and Javascript at this point. HTML is in charge of the site’s structure, CSS is in charge of the site’s appearance, and JavaScript is in charge of all the reasoning that occurs behind the scenes.

SAP UI5 separates front end and back end development by employing the MVC framework. To put it another way, we don’t need to touch the back end (for example, an existing OData service) to create a SAP UI5 application for it.

Let’s look into SAP Fiori now. After that, we’ll be able to observe how SAP UI5 and Fiori are related, as well as the differences between the two.

SAP Fiori

SAP Fiori is a design language and user experience approach developed by SAP for use by SAP, its customers and its partners in business applications.

SAP Fiori isn’t even a technology. It only affects the appearance and feel of a user interface. It’s a set of guidelines for how a SAP programme should behave in terms of user experience—in other words, how a SAP application should seem.

SAP Fiori’s purpose is to create an intuitive, easy-to-use user interface for all SAP applications. It is not just to give a consistent user experience across all SAP applications, eliminating the need to change, but also to save time by eliminating the need to navigate around in needlessly complex and unintuitive user interfaces.

The Difference between SAPUI5 and SAP Fiori

Let’s look at the differences between SAP UI5 and Fiori to better grasp their relationship.

SAP Fiori is a collection of design rules that govern how a user interface should seem and function. It is a set of criteria that determine the SAP application’s user experience (UX). As a result, SAP Fiori aims to provide a consistent, simple, intuitive, and responsive user experience for all SAP applications.

SAP UI5 is a technology for developing responsive web applications. SAP UI5 is, in other words, the coding language for SAP Fiori. As a result, we can’t create an SAP Fiori app without the SAP UI5 framework. Fiori apps that are responsive are the result of combining the two.

SAP Fiori can refer to a multitude of things depending on the context. Fiori can refer to both a set of precise design rules and a collection of useful apps. The most important aspect is that SAP Fiori is driving user interface advancement and is currently the front face of SAP S/4 applications.

About cbs SAP Fiori UX & UI

As S/4HANA pioneers, cbs develops apps with new user interfaces for the specific needs of industrial companies. We aim to provide our customers with solutions that are effective, efficient, and user friendly. With cbs SAP S/4HANA Optimised Fiori Apps, everyone will be able to reach data housed all over the world, anytime, no matter where they are.

Contact us to learn more about how we can implement Fiori in a flexible and focused approach in the cloud or on-premise.

Discover the competitive advantages that Fiori can bring to your industrial company! Contact us to learn more about the integration and implementation of Fiori in a customised and focused approach.