It's all built around that feature. You define your model using the language CDS (core data services), after compilation, you'll get a JSON representing the model (used by the generic runtime, either Node.js or Java), table/view SQL statements for the databases SQLite/HANA and OData metadata used by generic UIs. That means you semantically define your model and get all the artifacts needed to run the application. With generic support for most "enterprise qualities" like authorization, localization, draft support, extensibility etc. https://cap.cloud.sap/docs/get-started/in-a-nutshell gives a first glimpse. But again, I don't want to advertise. Like everything else, this approach has pros and cons, just wanted to give some insights how we dealt with that problem.