Platform Development Basics

Get Started with Platform Development

• At Salesforce, services are grouped by “clouds.” Sales Cloud for CRM, Service Cloud for customer support, etc. Distinct purposes, but share the Salesforce Platform.
• Salesforce Platform is like other platforms in that it is a group of technologies that supports the development of other technologies on top of it: from simple page layouts to full-scale applications.
  • Lets you develop custom data models and applications and “build complex business applications at a breakneck pace”
• Related platforms/systems:
  • Heroku platform: empowers developers to build highly scalable web apps and back-end services using Python, Ruby, Go, etc and provides database tools to sync seamlessly with Salesforce data
  • Salesforce APIs: let developers integrate and connect enterprise data, networks, and identity information
  • Mobile SDK: suite of technologies that lets you build native, HTML5, and hybrid apps that have the same reliability and security as Salesforce apps

Develop Without Code

• With Salesforce, the UI is not just sitting on a “run-of-the-mill” relational database. The UI is actually an abstraction of the database that’s driven by metadata-aware architecture.
  • Objects are Database Tables. Fields are Columns. Records are Rows.
  • Metadata forms the structure of your org, whether fields, business processes, or something more complex.
• Salesforce’s metadata-driven development model is one of the key differences between developing on Salesforce versus outside Salesforce. Salesforce automatically generates a lot of UI for you: dialogs, record lists, detail views, forms, CRUD rights, etc.
  • All this prebuilt functionality frees up development time to work on more sophisticated custom features.
• Diagram of the system landscape available in the DreamHouse app (managed package)

• Salesforce encourages you to minimize code with No-Code and Low-Code Declarative Development
  • Someone without any coding knowledge can develop entire apps in Salesforce using prebuilt components and point-and-click tools.
  • Writing things like validation rules or hooking up components with UI elements are “low code.”
• No-code and low-code development capabilities that Salesforce provides means that developers can move faster
  • IE: Build more in less time
  • If you’re working on a team with non-coders, you can leave declarative development to them while you double down on more code-intensive projects
    
    
• The relationship between objects, fields, and records, and Salesforce’s relational database?
  • They’re an abstraction of the underlying table structure
• How does the metadata-driven architecture support declarative development?
  • It allows the platform to auto-generate basic components for your org’s customization, like dialogs and forms

Code with Salesforce Languages

• Three core programmatic technologies you need to know as a Salesforce Developer:
  1. Lightning Component Framework: UI development framework similar to AngularJS or React
  2. Apex: Salesforce’s proprietary programming language with Java-like syntax
  3. Visualforce: A markup language that lets you create custom Salesforce pages with code that looks a lot like HTML. Optionally, you can use a powerful combination of Apex and Javascript.
• References:
  1. Lightning Aura Components Developer Guide
  2. Lightning Web Components Developer Guide
  3. Apex Developer Guide
  4. Visualforce Developer Guide

Lightning Components

• Component-based UI development framework for desktop and mobile.
• Can now use both the Lightning Web Components model and the original Aura Components model. These can coexist and interoperate on a page.
• Lightning web components are custom HTML elements built using HTML and modern JavaScript.
• To view Lightning Components navigate: Setup > Quick Find > “Lightning Components” > Select a component > Developer Console
  • Developer Console is the Salesforce IDE that is used to develop, debug, and test code in the org.
  • Lighting components include XML markup which contains both Aura-specific-and static HTML tags. Uses a <namespace:tagName> convention
  • Lightning components use client-side JavaScript controllers and server-side Apex controllers
    • Create and access those controllers and other assets like component style sheets from the bundle menu

Apex

• Apex can be used to extend the functionality of Process Builder by writing code.
• Java-like syntax
• Example code from Dream House app:

@InvocableMethod(label='Push Price Change Notification')
public static void pushNotification(List<Id> propertyId) {
  ...
}

• @InvocableMethod allows other tools like Process Builder to execute the method.
• Can also include SOQL inline:

Property__c property = [SELECT Name, Price__c from Property__c WHERE Id=:propId];

Visualforce

• Visualforce will feel familiar to anyone who has done web development.
  • Visualforce lets you create and customize pages in Salesforce and integrate with other standard web tecnologies: HTML, CSS, JavaScript
• With Lightning components, you’re developing components that can be pieced together to create pages. With Visualforce, you’re developing entire pages at once.
  • Lightning components are newer and better for mobile development
  • But, there are several situations where it makes more sense to use Visualforce
    
    
• What types of elements do you see in the XML markup for Aura components?
  • Static HTML tabs, Aura component tags
• What’s a situation where its better to use Lightning components and not Visualforce?
  • Your project will run primarily on mobile
• What’s true about Apex controllers?
  • Lightning components use server-side Apex controllers

Extend the Salesforce Platform

• Declarative Development in Salesforce using tools like Lightning App Builder and Process Builder require almost no interaction with Salesforce’s underlying APIs.
  • Moving into programmatic development, there are a robust set of APIs that let you access Salesforce data in many ways.
  • Every object in your org has an API name that lets you access data for that object.
• The following table has the APIs included in Salesforce. It was taken from Trailhead.
  • Another reference: Lightning Platform API Basics module

Heroku

• Heroku is a web development platform that lets you quickly build, deploy, and scale web apps.
  • Built on AWS
  • Allows flexibility regarding how to write your app: Java, Python, PHP, etc.
  • Heroku Connect unifies Salesforce data with Heroku Postgres data so no need to worry about moving info across platforms.
  • The DreamHouse managed package is exposed here

IoT, Bots, etc

• Integrating Salesforce with IoT devices (smart locks, lights, thermostats)
• Bots can be coded entirely in Apex and can connect to services like Slack, Facebook Messenger, Amazon Alexa, etc.
• Use Apex and Einstein Vision API to create image recognition and classification engines
• The Salesforce Developers portal is the best resource for all things related to developing on the Salesforce platform, including guides, blog posts, forums, and more info to get you started.
  
  
• For sending secure notifications, which API?
  • Streaming API
• Which heroku service allows you to unify Salesforce data with Postgres data?
  • Heroku Connect
• Besides Trailhead, where is the best place to learn about Salesforce development?
  • Salesforce Developers portal