Salesforce developer ultimate reference guide

The saleforce developers are software engineers who can customize the salesforce platform using no code tools or apex, lightning components and API integrations. These developers have a solid knowledge on the platform and are responsible for building a scalable business solutions using various salesforce technologies. Our ultimate reference guide provides an in-depth overview of the developer role.
Certified salesforce developer image

Image copyright salesforce

Key topics

What does a developer do?

The developers play a crucial role in making decisions about which platform capabilities to utilize in solving business problems. They may opt for a no-code solution, which requires no maintenance, or a code-based solution.

For no-code solutions, developers use:

  • Flow for business process automation
  • Reports/Dashboards to view/export data from Salesforce
  • Custom objects/fields for creating custom tables and fields
  • Formula fields for creating calculated fields based on certain criteria
  • Master details /look up fields to create relationships between tables in salesforce

For code-based solutions, developers use:

Roles and responsibilities of a developer

The developers play a pivotal role in translating complex business needs into Salesforce platfrom that align with the organization's strategy. Developers play a diverse range of roles in helping businesses leverage Salesforce platform capabilities. Here is a quick overview of the salesforce platform developer role.

Salesforce business requirement analysis

Translating Business Requirements

The developers are responsible for translating business requirements into well-designed solutions that leverage the Salesforce platform capabilities. They play a critical role in aligning technical solutions with the best platform features.

Discussions with stakeholders

Collaboration with Stakeholders

The developers collaborate and engage with business stakeholders to establish business processes and technical solutions that help achieve their goals.

Implement business requirements and provide business support

Implementation and Support

Developers implement various salesforce solutions and associated packages/products. They providing technical support for new projects, enhancements, and bug fixes.

Following salesforce best practices

Applying Best Practices

The developers apply best practices and their technical/business expertise to salesforce implementations. They consider the design trade-offs and decisions to ensure adherence to platform best practices.

Review code, config with best practice checklist

Code Review and Mentorship

The developers ensure that all code undergoes peer review against development standards before deployment. Additionally, they provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior developers.

Key developer skills that employers are seeking

  1. A degree in computer science
  2. Experience in working on a customer relationship management system or salesforce applications
  3. Ability to write scalable apex controllers, triggers, and batch classes
  4. Ability to write SOQL and SOSL queries
  5. Ability to Write test classes for Apex code
  6. Expertise in Salesforce APIs, REST, SOAP, and BULK APIs
  7. Ability to write JavaScript, CSS, and HTML for Lightning Web Components (LWC) and Aura Components
  8. Experience in building visualfoce pages and lightning components
  9. Knowledge of Salesforce integration tools such as MuleSoft, Informatica, etc
  10. Understanding of salesforce metadata for code and configurations
  11. Understanding of version control systems like Git and CI/CD tools
  12. A deep understanding of object-oriented programming languages

What are the developer certifications?

Salesforce certifications showcase a high level of expertise in the salesforce ecosystem. It often serve as an effective method for identifying candidates suitable for specific roles. For developers, the main two certifications are the following.

Platform Developer I

Platform Developer I certification image

Certified Platform Developer I professionals who can create and deploy custom business logics and interfaces with salesforce platform's programmatic features. They excel in choosing between declarative and programmatic approaches and extending the Lightning Platform using Apex and Visualforce.

Platform Developer II

Platform Developer II certification image

The Salesforce Platform Developer II (PDII) certification is intended for individuals with expertise and experience in advanced programmatic features of the Salesforce Platform and data modeling, enabling them to create intricate business logic and interfaces.

Is the developer still in demand?

Salesforce ecosystem offers a wide range of products. The businesses are evolving and continue to extend the salesforce platform to meet their specific requirements. Hence, there is a growing demand for developers to facilitate this. The demand for developers in the united states is as follows.

Median base salary

$120,000

Jobs posted in 2021

52,300

Jobs growth in the last 5 years

165%

source Trailhead

salesforce job growth

How to land on developer jobs?

Start with trailhead

Depending on your level of education and experience there are different paths. Learn the salesforce platform basics before delving into any specific modules. To get started with platform basics, head to the developer beginner trailhead module.

Developer Beginner | salesfoce trailhead

Try yourself with developer organization

Salesforce offers a free developer edition org where you can experiment your learnings. It is free, to sign up to a developer edition org visit the link below.

Developer edition sign up

Stay in touch with community

Salesforce community meetings are a great place to start collaborating with other salesforce professionals. Attending the knowledge sessions and build your professional network.

Get the latest developer updates

Subscribe to developer news letter and keep you updated with latest salesforce developmemnt technologies

Click here to subscribe to developer news letter

Apply for developer roles

You may start applying for roles when you are confident. Some companies offer internships for junior developer positions.

What is Decodeforce?

Decodeforce is a dedicated platform aimed at helping Salesforce developers improve their Apex coding skills by solving real-world programming challenges

Solve a number of practice scenarios in DML, SOQL, trigger and many more on Decodeforce.

String

Learn to use the apex string data type to validate and manipulate string variables in salesforce.

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Date

Play with Apex date methods to gain hands-on experience in manipulating date data type in Salesforce.

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List

Practice working with Apex lists to enhance your Salesforce development skills.

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Map

Practice working with apex Maps to handle large and complex data for business requirements.

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Practice apex collection control flow statements
Collections & Control flow

Discover how to utilize various conditional statements and collection types in Apex..

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Practice apex SOQL and DML statements
SOQL & DML

Explore SOQL queries, database manipulation statements (DML), and how to retrieve and update records in Apex.

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Practice apex triggers
Apex Triggers

Master apex triggers by leveraging trigger events and context variables to address real business scenarios.

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Practice apex governor limits
Governor limits

Resolve apex code that hits the governor limits and discover techniques to prevent such occurrences in your projects.

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Practice apex REST API
Apex REST API

Get hands-on experience with apex REST APIs to connect with external systems to send /receive data and updates records in Salesforce

Coming soon!
Lightning Web Components
Lightning Web Components

Develop and get hands on experience in creating Lightning Web Components to create modern user interface for salesforce apps.

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