Salesforce coding lessons for the 99%Finally, Apex tutorials for point-and-click admins! Written by a self-taught Google engineer.
Salesforce coding lessons for the 99%
If you’ve watched the Apex Academy, you know Pluralsight and I worked hard to put it together!
And if you’ve been lucky enough to win a free t-shirt from me, you know that Pluralsight sponsored them. Needless to say, I LOVE this company in every way imaginable =)
If you don’t know about Pluralsight, they’re an online teaching company that works with top industry experts to build technical courses in topics such as Salesforce, Javascript, Python, mobile development, and more.
And now they’re holding their first ever conference, Pluralsight Live, next month!
I’m honored to attend this conference both as a speaker and a learner. I hope to see you there too!
Pluralsight Live isn’t going to be like the Salesforce conferences you’re used to. This conference doesn’t focus on one technology – it focuses on learning technology in general.
What I plan to learn at Pluralsight Live:
Some of the sessions I’ll be at:
If you’re going, check out my session too!
Also hoping to spend some quality time with the wife and baby in Salt Lake City. This will be my third time going to Utah – I adore it there! Honestly, can’t believe the cost of living is so low. Great people and tons of things to do, especially outdoors. I plan to had over to the Comic Con that week too!
If you’re registering for Pluralsight Live, hope to see you in Utah!
A big THANK YOU to everyone who joined the official Coding for Admins webinar today!
Helping you learn Salesforce is a great honor and really one of my favorite things to do of all time!
If we helped inspire and motivate just a few of you, then all the hard work was worth it! Plus, who knows, maybe one of you will help inspire the next generation of Salesforce dreamers too!
If you weren’t able to join – don’t worry! Here is the recording and slides:
For those of you who messaged me after the webinar, don’t worry I’ll get back to you! As of now I’ve received 400 messages, so it might take me some time to respond, ha ha ha.
Fun fact: I actually respond manually to every email I receive. It’s legitimately one of the best parts of my day. And if Marc Benioff (CEO of Salesforce) can do it, so can I!
Happy coding!
David
We’re less than two days away from the official #AdminsWhoCode webinar by Salesforce and I!
In the webinar, LeeAnne and I will talk about why learning a little bit of code will change your life!
And if you stick around, there might just be a small gift for all attendees… =)
Hope you can still register!
Sneak Preview:
See you on Wednesday!
David
David’s note: There’s a lot you can learn from Himu and his journey! Yes, it’s important to learn to code – but that doesn’t mean you need to code 100% of the time! Find the balance that’s right for you. A great message that’s just in time for the Coding for Admins webinar!
I always thought that you had to know how to code to build software applications. My perceived complexity of coding always stopped me from taking the plunge in learning how to code.
I have always wanted to be at the forefront of technology. For me, that meant building innovative, value-driven apps.
I was envious of my friends who had studied computer science while I studied Civil Engineering in upstate New York. I was limited to the physical structures I was working with, while their work seemed endless and could reach anyone just by writing a bit of a language I didn’t understand!
This thought nagged at me as I moved to Bangladesh to work for an INGO. Non-profit funding is not always straight-forward. Often times, donors use funding windows, which guide the organization’s investments. Funding windows do not move at the same pace as digital systems, so organizations face challenges prioritizing and investing in digital systems. This organization had Salesforce, but were only using it to collect project data. They were not using Salesforce for operations such as HR and administration, and instead were using time-consuming paper-based processes.
To me, this was a waste of time and resources. Why not integrate all project and operations processes into the same system? If only I knew how to code!
That’s when I discovered Trailhead. I was amazed that I could build apps on a platform without any code! I spent months on Trailhead, blazing through all the admin and developer trails until I hit the Apex coding modules
No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t understand what was happening with Apex. For me, it wasn’t just about passing the challenges and racking up points, I needed to understand the underlying concepts and fundamentals of the language. Salesforce documentation assumes a background in coding so I could not make head or tails. I was demotivated; here I was back in college, the Civil Engineer who had the technical-know to construct the Golden Gate Bridge (maybe), but didn’t understand code.
David Liu and SFDC99 to the rescue! David had just launched Apex Academy, I read the course description and immediately signed up to Pluralsight. I started learning Apex and realized that although the language is important for complex customizations, declarative development was enough for the solution I was seeking.
Armed with this knowledge and renewed confidence, I lobbied for enterprise resource planning using the INGO’s existing Salesforce org. Significantly, I was a Civil Engineer – not a coder – and I had penetrated a domain I previously believed I was not certified to enter.
I was conducting app demos to convince the whole organization of 200 employees of an ERP’s value, making difficult data modeling choices which could have scalability ramifications, building an intranet and a mobile app. Most importantly, I felt I was adding value by improving the INGO’s efficiency and saving the organization man hours.
Along the way, I became well-versed in user-centered design, change management, and agile development.
After a year of continuous development and administration of the org, while doing my original role, I needed to make a choice: continue with the stable job with dual roles or risk everything and focus solely on Salesforce. The entrepreneurial spirit demanded I do the latter.
Throughout this time, I was building my proficiency from Trailhead and Apex Academy, scorning at the thought of certifications (wondering if I could pass). But I read David’s career series paired with encouragement from my mentor, and thought why not?
Not only did I pass the Administrator exam, I went on to pass the Advanced Admin, Platform App Builder, and Sales Cloud Consultant certificates all on the first attempt in the space of 5 weeks! Platform Developer and Technical Architect next!
Armed with the certifications, I launched my independent consultancy, focusing on ERP implementations and offline data management for non-profits.
All thanks to the timely pick me ups of SFDC99 and Apex Academy! David, you’re a fantastic inspiration in perseverance, keep doing what you do!
Inspired by this story?
Read more success stories from other SFDC99 students!
Want to tell the world your story too?
Email it to sfdc99.mailbag@gmail.com and your story could be heard around the world!
Well if you’re going to Midwest Dreamin’ next week you better go to WITness Success too!
WITness Success is the inaugural and definitive event for Salesforce women in tech!
It’s goal is to empower, support and invest in Salesforce Women in Tech user group members & leaders with a 1 ½ day event. Attendees will learn, network, grow & ultimately excel in their Salesforce careers, be role models and mentor others.
I wish I could go. I’ve seen first hand how big of an impact the Women in Tech group has on the Salesforce community. I’ve witnessed women cry as they spoke about how this community helped them. I see a lot of parallels between the goals I have with SFDC99 and what this group does.
If you can, check out the WITness Success event next week!
While you’re at it, join or support your local Salesforce Women in Tech group!
Thank you to the entire WITness Success planning team for putting together such an event. You are the reason why the Salesforce community is so great!
Salesforce and I are teaming up to help you learn to code! Join us!
LeeAnne Templeman, my partner in crime for the popular #Apex4Admins webinar series, is BACK and we’re teaming up once again to teach you why you should code, and how to get started!
If you didn’t get the chance to catch my unofficial Dreamforce ’16 keynote session, this is your chance to get that double shot of inspiration to code!
That session was one of the highest rated sessions so I think it’ll be well worth your time ^_^
Register today and don’t be shy to say HI during the Q&A! I read everything!
ತುಂಬು ಹೃದಯದ ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು ಡೇವಿಡ್… It’s my Mother tongue Kannada.
You wonder why this fellow using some unknown language which you can’t understand. But fact is these words came from my heart, not from mouth. That’s it. That’s it.
I got a job in a reputed company, without you I didn’t achieve this.
I remember Dec-25, the whole world celebrated Christmas. But I was crying in my room. I am from a rural area in Karnataka. On that day I closed my business with a lot of losses.
Actually I have done post graduation in Computer Science. After My Graduation I went to run a business. But I lost it.
On that time I don’t know what to do, on that time I cried a lot and lot.
The next day I took a bus and came to friend staying in Bangalore. He provided me food, room, wi-fi, even interview dresses and shoes for me.
He is Salesforce developer and he suggested me to learn Salesforce. Then I started learn Salesforce, then somehow I got your blog. I went through it. Then you provide me Pluralsight scholarship. Then I started to study that course and completed it.
Today I got my first salary. After getting my salary my heart is remembers you.
That’s it David..
You want know the meaning of first line right? It is:
“Hearty I Thank you very much David”.
That’s it..
Love from India.
Inspired by this story?
Read more success stories from other SFDC99 students!
Want to tell the world your story too?
Email it to sfdc99.mailbag@gmail.com and your story could be heard around the world!
David’s note: Well this is a first! You took your learnings and decided to pass it on by making a 100% free app to help others with their code! I love it Anmol! Thank you for helping others and I wish you, your app, and your future endeavors the best!
Hi David,
It has only been 2 years since I started working in Salesforce, I have 4 certifications under my belt, and I am the owner of an app.
It won’t be wrong if I’ll give you the credit behind this. I have started learning Salesforce from SFDC99.com, and believe me, in a very short time I got myself prepared from a beginner to an experienced Salesforce developer.
When I started working in Salesforce, I found few things for which there is not much help available, like “Test Class”.
I know writing test classes seems to be a pain, but it’s a good way to validate your code, in Salesforce it is mandatory to write test class against each Apex class/Trigger which must have a minimum of 75% code coverage and at-least 1 line should be covered for Trigger, when these requirements met, you can deploy your code over production.
Since I came from a .Net background, so test-driven development was not new to me, but there we have several tools which helps developers to write initial level of unit tests which can be improved further and saves lot of development time.
I searched for the same utilities in Salesforce, but all I found is some TestUtil classes which helps developers in generation of test data. That was the first time, when this idea clicked to my mind and I decided to come-up with such app which would help developers in writing test class. I crouched down and tied my shoes to run on a long concrete way and believe me, the journey form a “Developer” to a “Vendor” was not at all easy.
Finally after months of intensive research and code, I came up with a tool named Test Class Generator. This app helps you writing test classes for Apex Controller/trigger, I am still working on make this app work more efficiently.
Please check out this app on the AppExchange and share your views to make it more sturdy and versed, it has been appreciated by lot of developers/Admins.
David’s note: the author originally did not intend to share the app listing through this success story – I actually requested it after confirming it’s 100% free for life!
Once again, Thank you David for your blog posts and success stories which kept me motivated throughout.
Thanks & Regards,
Anmol
Inspired by this story?
Read more success stories from other SFDC99 students!
Want to tell the world your story too?
Email it to sfdc99.mailbag@gmail.com and your story could be heard around the world!
This year at TrailheaDX, I had the honor of bumping into Jessica Murphy and Rachel Watson at lunch!
Both are admin-turned-developers in the Salesforce world, and both dream of helping support and inspire other women in this space too. Thus, the Women Who Dev Online User Group was born.
They told me they wanted to start an online community for women developers so that it was easily accessible and they could serve women who might not have a similar community locally.
Needless to say I was floored by their passion to help others find success through code!!!!!
Anyway, if you’re a woman and you’re on this site, you’d probably love this group.
Their next meeting is on Thursday, August 3rd at 5PM PST. Join them and tell them I sent ya!
Check out the Women Who Dev User Group Twitter account too!
Our next meeting is Thursday, August 3 at 5pm PST. Join us! Stay tuned for more details. https://t.co/0kQYMN4PBf 😀 #wwdug #Salesforce #Ohana
— Women Who Dev UG (@WWDUG) July 8, 2017
P.S. tell Jessica and Rachel that I sent ya!
This is the biggest change in the certification world… EVER!Later this year, the Platform Developer II certification will no longer have a programming assignment!
WOW!
The notorious programming assignment is being replaced by four Trailhead superbadges.
That’s right! And no, this is not a joke! It’s really happening!
Now, the details about this change haven’t been fully announced yet. But, it’s fun to speculate what this could mean for those of us working towards the certification and those of us who already have it. What changes could this mean in the job market?
If you DO NOT currently have the PDII certification, this might mean…
If you DO currently have the PDII certification, this could mean…
What might this mean for the industry at large?
If you want to learn more about the upcoming changes, check out the upcoming webinar and the official knowledge article.
My thoughts on this change? Well, I’m keeping an open mind about things to see how it turns out. I need to earn those superbadges myself before forming too strong an opinion on this. I understand why Salesforce did this – it’s impossible to scale the cert if you need a team of human graders analyzing tons of lines of code.
But as someone who currently has the PDII certification, I’d be bummed if the cert suddenly became too easy to get. I’m hoping Salesforce has something cool up their sleeves, like Einstein, grading the challenges and preventing cheating.
But if the challenges are public, there’s no time limit, and there are unlimited free attempts to pass, I’m having a hard time seeing how they can keep the cert from getting devalued!
What if they changed the Technical Architect certification to be the accumulation of Trailhead badges, instead of a review board? Well, even though I haven’t earned that certification yet, I’m up for the challenge and I wouldn’t want them to make the exam any easier! I want to earn it!
Tell me your thoughts in the comments below!