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%
Dear David,
I noticed that you do not recommend the Development with the Force.com Platform book for beginners even though there was not an Apex book at the time. Do you still recommend Head First Java now that Dan Appleman has come out with an Apex book? Should I read both books, just stick to Head First Java, or should I just buy the Dan Appleman book?
Sincerely,
Bookworm
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Dear Bookworm,
Choosing a book is a very important decision because it’s a huge time investment!
Let me talk about each book and what I recommend:
Development with the Force.com Platform – I have nothing against the author of this book (he was way ahead of his time) but I generally don’t recommend reading it if you’re trying to learn Apex. Only 10% of the book is code related and it doesn’t go into much depth at all. I know because it was the first book that I read and I paid full price for it! The worst part is that it’s 4 years old now and the platform has changed too much since then.
Head First Java – greatest book of all time, a MUST read for budding Salesforce developers. I can’t think of a single thing I’d improve with this book and I model SFDC99 off of it! Worth every minute of your time reading, even though it covers Java instead of Apex. The two languages overlap 90% and even with the 10% missing, the book is still better than the best Apex tutorials out there (yes even SFDC99)!
Advanced Apex Programming – highly, highly recommend this book, just not until you’re proficient already in Apex. This book lives up to it’s “Advanced” name and to be honest some of its topics are still over my head. This is the type of book you want to read after 1 – 2 years of experience coding Apex. On a personal note, I know the author in person and consider him one of my mentors.
Hope this helps!
David
Join the discussion in the comments section below! Got a question? Send it to the mailbag: sfdc99.mailbag@gmail.com
Sorry, meant to put my name instead of company!
I actually got the Development with the Force.com Platform book as an XMas gift by my Dad who knows I am into SalesForce, but thought it could be a bit advanced. A lot is definitely over my head! I am hoping the outdated comment you made explains why some of the code I copy and paste still doesn’t work! I also got the Head First I am trying to read.
For Christmas… LOL!!!
LOVE it!
Awesome advice! Thanks!