Resources

These resources helped me when I was learning to code Apex. If you’d like to suggest more that you find helpful, please contact me and I’ll add them to the list for all to enjoy!

CookingWithCode Recipes | Tree Training | Clicks Not Code

Community | Salesforce Dev Site | OOP | Apex | SOQL | Visualforce | Other

Free Training Resources

  • RAD Women – RAD provides free coding courses for women admins wanting to learn to code on the Salesforce Platform. (yep, you read that right! FREE!). Full disclosure that I co-founded and help run this program.
  • Salesforce Developer Orgs – These are free versions of the full Developer Edition of Salesforce. That means not only Sales Cloud, but also Service Cloud. You can sign up for as many as you want, and they are a great (and safe) way to learn to code.
  • Salesforce Trailhead – This is an amazing resource for learning both the Clicks and the Code of Salesforce. The first two trails relate to the Clicks side of Salesforce; while the last focuses on the Code. I highly recommend this as a place to not only hone your Admin skills, but to learn they “how” and the “why” of coding. The coding section covers the basics of Apex (classes, methods and triggers), unit test code coverage and Visualforce. There are some “coming soon” modules that I’m looking forward to trying out, including Visualforce & JavaScript, Apex and web services, mobile development and more.
  • SFDC99.com – Fantastic website written by the amazing that shows all point-and-click admins that they can become Salesforce developers!  Includes tutorials, code challenges, quizzes etc. Great great resource!
  • Salesforce “Getting Started” – This is a great way to, well, get started with coding Salesforce (or as they say, the Force.com platform). It will walk you through signing up for a developer org, and has links to other resources, such as the Force.com Workbook, and other reference material.
  • Developer Workbooks & Cheat Sheets – Missed out snagging a workbook at Dreamforce? Don’t worry, because they’re all online:
    • Workbooks: Force.com, Salesforce1 Mobile App, Apex, Visualforce, Force.com Integration, Cloud Flow Designer, Security
    • Cheat Sheets: Salesforce1 admin and developer, formulas, Apex, Visualforce, SOAP and REST APIs (Chatter, Analytics, etc.), database query & search optimization

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Clicks Not Code

Although the focus of this blog is on moving from “Clicks to Code,” that doesn’t mean that we should avoid all click-based administration. Some great advise is that if you can do it with Clicks, then do it! That ensures that you keep on the upgrade path for future Salesforce versions. So I’m a firm believer of “Know thy Clicks,” hence the links below.

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Community Support

I’m a massive believer in the power of community to support your learning. I know it’s difficult sometimes to feel like you belong, but you do! Below are some of the groups that have been especially welcoming and helpful to me.

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Salesforce Developers Site

This site is so amazing that I gave it it’s own category! It is the ultimate reference/community/inspiration site for all things Salesforce development. The site includes information on:

  • Developing on the force.com platform (aka, within Salesforce)
  • Using Heroku to build apps in any language, and that will sync with Salesforce
  • Developing for mobile and connected products (aka Internet of Things or IoT)

It also includes:

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Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)

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Apex Resources

Force.com Apex Code Developer’s Guide

Use the web version, or download the pdf (which makes things easier to search). The Apex Code Developer’s Guide is the ultimate reference tool for Apex coding and includes:

  • Getting Started
    • Introduction
    • Development process
    • Apex Quickstart
  • Writing Apex:
    • Datatypes and variables
    • Cconditional statements and loops
    • Classes & objects
    • Working with data (DML, SOQL, SOSL, sObject Collections)
  • Ways to Invoke Apex:
    • Triggers
    • Asynchronous Apex
    • Web Services
    • Apex Transations & Govenor Limits
    • Working with Salesforce Features (e.g., Chatter, email, approval processes, actions, Visual Workflow etc.)
    • Integration & Apex Utilities (callouts, JSON, XML, Patterns and matches)
  • Finishing Touches:
    • Debugging Apex
    • Testing Apex
    • Deploying Apex
  • Reference
  • Glossary

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SOQL

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Visualforce Developer’s Guide

Use the web version, or download the pdf (which makes things easier to search). Tons of great stuff here including:

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Other Resources

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