Salesforce Developer Interview Questions (Short Answers)

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What is Salesforce?

Answer: Salesforce is a cloud-based software company known for its customer relationship management (CRM) product, which integrates various business functions such as sales, service, and marketing.

Explain the different Salesforce clouds.

Answer: Salesforce offers several cloud services:

• Sales Cloud for sales automation.
• Service Cloud for customer service.
• Marketing Cloud for digital marketing.
• Community Cloud for creating online communities.
• Commerce Cloud for e-commerce solutions.
• Health Cloud for healthcare and life sciences.

What is a custom object in Salesforce?

Answer: A custom object is a user-defined database table in Salesforce that stores specific information about a company’s business processes.

Describe the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture as it pertains to Salesforce.

Answer: In Salesforce, the MVC architecture separates:

• Model: Represents the database where data is stored.
• View: Represents the user interface.
• Controller: Contains the business logic that drives data exchange between Model and View and controls user interactions.

What are Governor Limits in Salesforce?

Answer: Governor Limits are Salesforce’s way of ensuring efficient use of resources by limiting the amount of data or number of operations that can be performed in a single transaction.

How can you ensure a piece of Apex code can handle bulk data?

Answer: To handle bulk data, ensure the Apex code is written using bulkified patterns which avoid SOQL and DML statements inside loops; this minimizes the risk of hitting Governor Limits.

Explain the difference between a role and a profile in Salesforce.

Answer: Profiles determine users’ permissions to perform functions in Salesforce, like creating or viewing records. Roles define users’ levels of access to record data based on their position in the organization hierarchy.

What is a workflow rule in Salesforce?

Answer: A workflow rule is an automated process in Salesforce that triggers actions based on specific criteria, for example, sending an email when a new lead is created.

How do you create a many-to-many relationship in Salesforce?

Answer: A many-to-many relationship in Salesforce is created using a junction object. This junction object has two master-detail relationships connecting it to the two objects that need to be related.

Describe the process of deploying from a sandbox to production.

Answer: Deploying changes from a sandbox to production involves:

• Performing unit tests and ensuring code coverage meets the minimum criteria.
• Using deployment tools like Change Sets or Salesforce DX to move configurations and code.
• Validating the deployment in production to ensure stability.

What is Apex in Salesforce?

Answer: Apex is a strongly typed, object-oriented programming language that allows developers to execute flow and transaction control statements on Salesforce servers in conjunction with calls to the API.

Can you explain what a trigger is in Salesforce?

Answer: A trigger is a piece of Apex code that executes before or after data manipulation language (DML) operations, such as insert, update, or delete, occur in Salesforce.

What is SOQL and SOSL? How do they differ?

Answer: SOQL (Salesforce Object Query Language) and SOSL (Salesforce Object Search Language) are used to retrieve data from Salesforce databases. SOQL is used to query on a single object whereas SOSL allows searching multiple objects simultaneously and is used when the exact object in the database is unknown.

How would you integrate external applications with Salesforce?

Answer: External applications can be integrated with Salesforce through the Salesforce API. Options include the REST API, SOAP API, Bulk API, and Streaming API, depending on the requirements of the application and the type of data interactions needed.

What are validation rules in Salesforce?

Answer: Validation rules in Salesforce ensure the accuracy of data entered by a user. These rules verify that the data meets certain criteria before it is saved to the database.

Explain the concept of batch Apex.

Answer: Batch Apex allows developers to process large data sets by breaking the data into smaller batches, which are processed sequentially. This is particularly useful for operations that exceed the normal processing limits imposed by Salesforce’s Governor Limits.

What are the different types of sandboxes in Salesforce?

Answer: Salesforce provides different types of sandboxes for various development and testing needs:

• Developer Sandbox: Best for coding and testing by a single developer.
• Developer Pro Sandbox: Offers more storage space and is suitable for more extensive testing and quality assurance.
• Partial Copy Sandbox: Includes a sample of production data for realistic testing environments.
• Full Sandbox: Contains a full copy of the production environment, ideal for performance testing and training without affecting the live setup.

How do you handle data security in Salesforce?

Answer: Data security in Salesforce is managed through a combination of organizational-wide defaults (OWD), roles, profiles, permission sets, field-level security, and sharing rules to control access to data at different levels.

Describe Lightning Components.

Answer: Lightning Components are self-contained and reusable units of an app built using the Lightning Component Framework. This modern framework utilizes a client-server architecture that enhances performance and makes it easier to develop responsive applications for any device.

What is the use of the Controller Extension in Salesforce?

Answer: Controller Extensions are Apex classes that extend the functionality of standard or custom controllers in Salesforce. They are used to add additional methods and properties that are not available in the original controller, providing more customized behavior in Visualforce pages.

How can you improve the performance of a Visualforce page?

Answer: To improve the performance of a Visualforce page, you can:

• Use the rendered attribute to conditionally display components.
• Limit the number of records queried by applying pagination.
• Optimize Apex controllers to avoid unnecessary calculations.
• Use asynchronous calls with Visualforce’s actionFunction or actionPoller to reduce page load times.

Explain the difference between before and after triggers in Salesforce.

Answer: Before triggers are used to update or validate record values before they are saved to the database, while after triggers are used when you need to access system-generated values (like record IDs or formula fields) and to affect changes in other records.

What are dynamic dashboards? When would you use them?

Answer: Dynamic dashboards in Salesforce display data that is tailored to a specific user. They are used when different users need to view the dashboard configured to show data relevant to them, based on their roles, permissions, or specific criteria.

Describe the capabilities of Process Builder.

Answer: Process Builder is a tool in Salesforce that allows you to automate business processes with a graphical interface. It can create complex workflows that trigger a series of actions based on changes in Salesforce records, including updates, emails, and calls to other processes.

What is the difference between data loader and import wizard?

Answer: The Data Loader is a client application for the bulk import or export of data used in Salesforce. It handles large volumes of data and supports more complex operations than the Import Wizard, which is a simpler, browser-based tool designed for importing smaller amounts of data with less frequent use of complex relationships.

How do you manage test data in Salesforce?

Answer: Managing test data in Salesforce involves using test classes and methods to create and manipulate data in a testing environment. Salesforce’s @testSetup methods can be used to prepare data for multiple test methods, which helps in reducing code redundancy and improving test performance.

What is the role of static resources in Salesforce?

Answer: Static resources in Salesforce are used to store files and content like images, JavaScript, CSS files, and other archives that can be referenced in Visualforce pages, Lightning Components, or other parts of the platform. They help manage content efficiently and reduce the load on servers by caching the files.

Explain the concept of custom settings in Salesforce.

Answer: Custom settings in Salesforce are similar to custom objects but provide a reusable set of static data that can be accessed across the organization without the need for repeated queries. They are often used for storing configuration values or developing applications that can be customized by administrators without direct code modifications.

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Common Technologies Used by Salesforce Developers

Salesforce developers utilize a variety of technologies to build, integrate, and maintain Salesforce applications effectively. Here are some of the most common ones:

1. Apex: Salesforce’s proprietary programming language, similar to Java, used for writing server-side code.
2. Visualforce: A markup language that allows developers to create custom Salesforce pages with dynamic, user-specific interfaces.
3. Lightning Components: A framework for developing responsive applications for mobile and desktop devices, using components that can be dragged and dropped into Salesforce applications.
4. Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) and Salesforce Object Search Language (SOSL): Query languages used to retrieve data from Salesforce’s database. SOQL focuses on queries on one object, while SOSL allows searching across multiple objects.
5. Process Builder and Flow: Tools for automating workflows and business processes within Salesforce.
6. Salesforce DX: A set of tools that allows developers to build and manage Salesforce apps across the entire platform with a more streamlined, source-driven approach.
7. Einstein Analytics: A powerful analytics tool integrated within Salesforce that allows complex analytical computations on large datasets.
8. Heroku: A cloud platform service supporting several programming languages, used for building, running, and operating applications entirely in the cloud.

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Key Expertise for Salesforce Developers

Salesforce developers require a specific set of skills and knowledge areas to effectively customize and enhance the Salesforce platform. Here are some of the most common expertise areas:

1. Apex Programming: Proficiency in Apex, Salesforce’s proprietary programming language, is essential for creating business logic and server-side code.
2. Visualforce and Lightning Frameworks: Knowledge of Visualforce for custom page development and Lightning Component Framework for building responsive applications is crucial.
3. Data Modeling: Understanding how to design and implement robust data structures using Salesforce’s object relationships.
4. Integration Skills: Ability to integrate Salesforce with other systems using Salesforce APIs, middleware, and other integration tools like MuleSoft.
5. Automation Tools: Expertise in Salesforce automation tools such as Process Builder, Workflow Rules, and Flow to streamline business processes.
6. Security Model: Familiarity with Salesforce’s complex security model, including organization-wide defaults, roles, profiles, and sharing rules, to ensure data security and compliance.
7. Performance Optimization: Skills in optimizing the performance of Salesforce applications, particularly in managing large data volumes and avoiding governor limits.
8. Front-End Technologies: Knowledge of front-end technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, especially in the context of Lightning and Visualforce pages.
9. DevOps Practices: Experience with Salesforce DX for version control, testing, and continuous integration/delivery in Salesforce development.
10. Analytical Skills: Ability to utilize Salesforce’s reporting and analytics tools to build custom reports and dashboards that provide actionable insights.

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