What is the benefit of ABAP CDS views?

ABAP CDS (Core Data Services) views are designed to enhance the way developers interact with data in the HANA database, particularly by enabling complex data manipulations directly in the database layer. This capability leverages the power of the HANA platform, allowing for more efficient querying and data processing. By defining data models in a declarative syntax, CDS views can encapsulate business logic, enable data filtering, and combine data from different sources seamlessly.

Using CDS views, developers can create rich semantic data models that can be reused across various applications without needing to replicate the underlying logic, promoting reusability and consistency across applications. This is particularly useful in scenarios where complex joins or calculations are needed, as it minimizes the amount of data transported between the database and application servers, ultimately leading to improved performance.

The other options highlight aspects that are either not accurate or do not capture the full scope and power of CDS views. For instance, a graphical user interface for building applications isn’t a primary function of CDS views; instead, they serve as a backend data modeling technique. Moreover, CDS views extend beyond just report generation by facilitating a wide range of data handling and analysis tasks. Lastly, indicating that CDS views are less efficient than previous methods contradicts their purpose of