Every CRM platform requires some coding for customizations, and Salesforce is no exception. Apex is the default language for coding and customizations in Salesforce. It uses a syntax similar to JAVA and acts like a database storage procedure.
For Salesforce developers, it is essential to know the Apex programming language. In this blog, we will walk you through a basic introduction to the language and its features so that you can understand its importance in Salesforce.
What is Apex in Salesforce?
Apex in Salesforce is a strongly typed object-oriented programming language used to write the code that is executed on the Salesforce platform. It is a proprietary language developed by salesforce.com, allowing developers to execute flow and transaction control statements on Salesforce servers in conjunction with calls to the API.
It enables the developer to add business logic to most of the system events, including button on-clicks, related record updates, VF pages, LWC, and Aura Components.
Apex is used to build the SaaS application on top of salesforce.com CRM functionality on Salesforce PaaS. Apex code can be initiated by Web service requests and from triggers on objects. It is saved, compiled, and executed on the servers of the Salesforce platform.
How Apex Works in Salesforce?
All Apex runs entirely on-demand on the Lightning Platform. Developers write and save Apex code to the platform. End users trigger the execution of the Apex code via the user interface.
The platform application server initially translates developer-written Apex code into an abstract set of instructions that the Apex runtime interpreter can understand before saving those instructions as metadata.
A button click or visit to a Visualforce page could be examples of how an end user initiates Apex execution. In that case, the platform application server gets the compiled instructions from the metadata, runs them through the runtime interpreter, and then returns the outcome. There are no variations in execution times between regular platform queries and what the end user sees.
Features of Apex in Salesforce
Various features of Apex in Salesforce make it useful and efficient as a programming language. Let’s look at a few of these features.
1. Integration
Common Lightning Platform idioms are supported by Apex, including:
- DML calls (data manipulation language) with integrated DmlException handling, like INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE
- Linear sObject record lists are returned by Salesforce Object Search Language (SOSL) and Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) queries.
- Looping enables the processing of several records in bulk at once.
- Locking syntax to avoid conflicts during record updates
- Custom public API calls that can be constructed using Apex methods that are stored
- When a user attempts to change or remove a custom object or field that Apex references, warnings, and errors are displayed.
2. Simple to Employ
The foundation of Apex includes well-known Java idioms, including the notation for objects and arrays, variables, expressions, blocks, and conditional statements, as well as loops.
When Apex adds new components, it does so with simple syntax and semantics that promote practical usage of the Lightning Platform. As a result, Apex generates code that is simple to write and concise.
3. Data Focused
Multiple query and DML statements can be threaded together into a single unit of work on the Salesforce server using data-focused Apex. Similarly, developers can thread together several transaction statements on a database server using database-stored procedures. Unlike other database-stored procedures, Apex does not attempt to offer broad support for rendering UI elements.
4. Hosted by Salesforce
The Lightning Platform interprets, runs, and manages Hosted Apex in its entirety. Apex is aware of multiple tenants and operates in a multitenant environment, just like the rest of the Lightning Platform.
This is the reason behind the Apex runtime engine’s extreme caution when it comes to runaway code that could otherwise monopolize shared resources. Code that goes outside its bounds fails and generates error messages that are easy to understand.
5. Easy to Test
Apex comes with built-in capability for writing and running unit tests. It includes test results that show you how much code is covered and where you may improve the efficiency of your code. Before any platform updates, Salesforce runs all unit tests to make sure any custom Apex code functions as intended.
NOTE: Apex is included in Performance Edition, Unlimited Edition, Developer Edition, Enterprise Edition, and Database.com.
