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Preview: First Apex Academy video course!

January 1, 2016

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, students!

It has been an especially memorable holiday season for me this year =)

I’m proud to say that after hundreds of hours designing, drawing, tweaking, and coding by me and my editing team… we’re wrapping up the first two-hour course and getting ready to launch it!

You’re going to find that this course takes a different approach to teaching you Apex than my existing tutorials do. I read all the feedback from the thousands of comments, emails, and questions I’ve received throughout the years. I took an honest look at the shortcomings of my existing tutorials, and made sure to design a new, stronger course – without losing the SFDC99 humor and magic.

So what’s the difference between the Apex Academy course and existing content?

  • The magic of a video and voice classroom lets me teach things that would normally be too ambitious to cover in written lessons
  • We write A TON of triggers and test classes to make sure the concepts stick!
  • Everything is taught in the context of actual scenarios you’d see in a Salesforce deployment
  • The overall pace favors depth and understanding instead of speed and conciseness
  • You no longer need to supplement your learning with books such as Head First Java

Needless to say, I poured in the hours to make sure this course exceeds my standards!

Here’s a sneak peek at the first course content!

Apex Academy: Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Coding in Salesforce

Module 1: What’s in it for me?
– Five things you didn’t know Apex would do for your career
– Job prospects for new Salesforce developers
– Can anyone really learn how to code?

Module 2: Introduction to Apex
– Apex and the Salesforce automation landscape
– When to code and when not to code
– What is an Apex trigger and how do they work?
– Comparison of coding editors
– Installing the MavensMate coding editor

Module 3: Writing Basic Apex Triggers
– Write 5 different Apex triggers and analyze them line by line
– The trigger loop: what it is and why we need it
– Timeline of a trigger within a database event
– When to use “before” vs “after” triggers
– Two examples of bad triggers, and how to fix them
– The general trigger pattern
– Homework!

Module 4: Writing Test Classes
– What are test classes and why does Salesforce want you to write them?
– Why should YOU focus on test classes?
– Test class requirements
– How to write 3 different test classes
– How Salesforce calculates your test coverage, and how you can increase it
– What NOT to do when writing test classes
– Homework!

Module 5: Deploying Code
– How to deploy from sandbox to production

This course is going to give you a rock solid foundation of coding in Salesforce and I recommend it even to people who’ve gone through all the tutorials on this site. It’s one thing to read tutorials and it’s a whole other thing to understand the concepts within them. This course makes sure you understand what you’re doing, and, it’ll get you started towards the Platform Developer I and II certifications.

Soon, I start designing course #2! Updates coming soon as well as an official launch for course #1!

David

64 Comments
Pavan Kumar
February 24, 2016 @ 7:25 pm

Hi David,

I just completed the Apex fundamental class in the Apex Academy. Its Awesome. I don’t know coding knowledge, but I am getting confidence to become a developer by watching the video. Thanks for that.

Just waiting for next video in Apex Academy

Reply
Rushabh
January 18, 2016 @ 8:47 pm

Amazing David you are.. I am a developer, but still make sure not to miss your academy tutorials… Trust me, it has been a WOW experience… Looking forward to next set of Apex Academy tutorial :)

Reply
    David Liu
    January 19, 2016 @ 7:40 pm

    Great comment Rushabh =) Thank you!

    Reply
raviteja gandhari
January 16, 2016 @ 10:37 am

Hello DAVID,
If anybody else on this planet could ever explain the before and after triggers difference better than you, I would send over 100 T-shirts with “Good Try Buddy” written on it…hahaha.. You are Awesome….This is my first comment on your blog. I started following your blog since an year and believe me, my day starts with your blog….#DAVID..#SuperHuman…#My Mentor…One day, I am gonna meet you for sure….I have completed 75% of the course in 2 days. #BringITOn

Reply
    David Liu
    January 16, 2016 @ 12:06 pm

    Raviteja you have a way with words too, hahaha. Great comment!

    Glad you enjoyed it, part 2 coming soon!

    Reply
Richard C.
January 15, 2016 @ 3:47 pm

Can’t wait for this course? I hipe to start soon!

Reply
harishgottipati
January 15, 2016 @ 6:40 am

David, Your videos are awesome man and gives anyone some confidence to learn. I am an admin/consultant but lacks of knowledge in coding. I will admit I am afraid of coding and your videos made me to ease and put my fingers on the keyboard to write the triggers. If you are ever in London/Europe please let me know and happy to meet up.

Harish

Reply
    David Liu
    January 15, 2016 @ 7:41 am

    Thank you Harish!!

    Reply
Ashwin Jangam (@jangamashwin)
January 14, 2016 @ 9:04 pm

Hay David my Dear Guru n friend. I had my eye on pluralsight from the last one month and keep searching and searching your videos that it has been uploaded or not. Just now in the morning here in India, seen your valuable videos and really really very happy to hear your sweet and firm voice. I am sure now I will be developer and my doors to jump into dive start. I wanna meet you in Dreamforce one day… :) Tons and tons of thanks my dear friend David.

Reply
    David Liu
    January 14, 2016 @ 10:47 pm

    Ashwin – thank you for your kinds words and I hope to meet you at Dreamforce one day too! Let me know if you ever need any advice along your journey!

    Reply
B
January 14, 2016 @ 10:02 am

David. When will this course be online

Reply
Violet
January 13, 2016 @ 7:02 am

I am waiting too :) Very excited

Reply
NGP
January 12, 2016 @ 11:33 pm

Waiting eagerly for the course to begin.. by when can we expect ?

Reply
    David Liu
    January 13, 2016 @ 8:22 pm

    This week I believe!!! Formal announcement coming up!

    Reply
Chris B.
January 12, 2016 @ 8:13 am

Any updates from your editors on when we can start in this course? I am excited to learn it!

Reply
    David Liu
    January 13, 2016 @ 8:23 pm

    Targeting end of the week!!

    Reply
richa
January 11, 2016 @ 11:49 am

waitig !

Reply
    djaskol
    January 14, 2016 @ 2:37 am

    Also waitingggg

    Reply
Kumar
January 11, 2016 @ 11:16 am

how can i register for the course?

Reply
    David Liu
    January 13, 2016 @ 8:25 pm

    I’ll give registration details soon!

    Reply
Soma
January 11, 2016 @ 9:11 am

Hello David, we know you must be busy, but its almost half the month is about to finish of the Jan. Please post the series soon :(

Reply
    David Liu
    January 13, 2016 @ 8:24 pm

    hahaha working hard!!!

    Reply
APS
January 11, 2016 @ 7:21 am

David

I am very excited about your course on plural site. jut wondering when this would be live to enroll.

Cheers
AP

Reply
    David Liu
    January 13, 2016 @ 8:25 pm

    Possibly end of week!

    Reply
Dinesh
January 10, 2016 @ 8:24 pm

David,we all know you are working hard to get them ready.But please give us some tentative date!!

Reply
    David Liu
    January 13, 2016 @ 8:25 pm

    Most likely end of week, making final updates!

    Reply
Travis
January 8, 2016 @ 4:10 pm

David,

I’m salivating in anticipation for your new video courses. Endow us with your APEX and Visualforce knowledge so we can stop reading through the seemly endless library of hello world tutorials that plague the internet. HELP ME SIR!

Reply
    Rohit
    January 8, 2016 @ 4:11 pm

    Hahaha ! Good one Travis !! I feel ya..

    Reply
    David Liu
    January 13, 2016 @ 8:26 pm

    LOL!

    Reply
Manu
January 7, 2016 @ 7:01 am

When is it coming David?? :-o #Waiting

Reply
    David Liu
    January 13, 2016 @ 8:27 pm

    Almost there!!!

    Reply
Fábio Camargo
January 5, 2016 @ 6:00 pm

Excited and waiting :)

Reply
Simon
January 5, 2016 @ 11:01 am

Hi David, I can’t wait for the first course. Great way to start in 2016. My goal is to find a Salesforce Developer this year.

Reply
    David Liu
    January 5, 2016 @ 12:10 pm

    Find or become one? =)

    Reply
      Simon
      January 11, 2016 @ 8:56 pm

      I am going to become one. Looking forward your video. :)

      Reply
        David Liu
        January 13, 2016 @ 8:24 pm

        Woot woot!

        Reply
CoolCodingChad
January 5, 2016 @ 8:13 am

Thank you David!! I can’t wait!!

Reply
Carl
January 4, 2016 @ 2:40 pm

Terrific

Reply
Carl
January 4, 2016 @ 2:39 pm

Sounds fantastic. Something that I always thought was wrong with so many training modules where the emphasis is quantity as opposed to quality

Reply
Chris
January 4, 2016 @ 10:52 am

Thank you!

Reply
Naveen Choudhary
January 4, 2016 @ 10:15 am

A big thanks to you DAVID!!!
Would be great if you help us out with the deep dive knowledge of Salesforce Lightning Components Development

Reply
Nitin
January 4, 2016 @ 5:59 am

Hi David,

Wish you a very Happy New Year!!!
Thank you for all your efforts. Looking forward to the course.

Regards,
Nitin

Reply
Sandeep
January 4, 2016 @ 2:25 am

Wow, nice .. I am excited and waiting for this course.

Reply
veda arvind
January 4, 2016 @ 12:34 am

I am looking forward to it.

Reply
Rohit
January 3, 2016 @ 11:49 pm

David ! This is amazing.. I used to email you every week about when this post will be published and when we can all see the video. Its finally happening. I am happy and this will kickstart my goal to be an APEX developer. Thank you, David. Your effort and work is much appreciated and I promise to pass on the knowledge too.

Reply
    David Liu
    January 4, 2016 @ 12:30 pm

    =)

    Reply
GK
January 3, 2016 @ 9:34 pm

Hi David,

Thank you for this !! I am really looking forward to this course. How soon will it be published? Would you send in a comment on this post so we are notified about the same ?

Thanks !

Reply
Philippe
January 3, 2016 @ 7:34 am

Great work David thanks for making it available to us!

Reply
Saurabh
January 2, 2016 @ 9:34 pm

Hey David, there has been some changes made to the SFDC Certifications. Could you please assist us understanding the new ones?

Reply
    David Liu
    January 4, 2016 @ 7:24 pm

    I’ll do you one better and make a course on this!

    Reply
MurthyRaju Alluri
January 2, 2016 @ 7:46 pm

Thank you looking forward to it

Reply
Leslie Gestautas
January 2, 2016 @ 4:49 pm

WOW! So excited David – TIA! Even as a current certified SF Adv Admin. with a few years on hands-on experience, I still struggled mightily with the Head First Java book… I just don’t have a context, since I don’t know any other programming language. I REALLY look forward to your launch!!!

Reply
    Rachel
    January 10, 2016 @ 5:59 pm

    I second that! I’ve been trying to power through Head First Java with no previous programming language experience and am getting stuck. I’ve been trying to figure out the Apex basics module within the developer beginner trail on Salesforce’s Trailhead it is so hard!

    Bring on this course!!!

    Reply
Sergey
January 2, 2016 @ 5:16 am

This is really Nice 2016 gift. When we should stop a daily check of pluralsight (when do you publish it)?

Reply
    David Liu
    January 2, 2016 @ 10:00 am

    That’ll depend mostly on my editors =) Hopefully SOON!!!

    Reply
Pradeep
January 2, 2016 @ 2:30 am

I’m Soo Excited

Reply
Jose Claramunt
January 2, 2016 @ 2:06 am

Excellent! Cant wait for the course to be ready ;)

Oh! And I see you’ve gone with MavensMate. Any reason why its better than Eclipse or Brain Engine?

Cheers bro :)

Reply
    David Liu
    January 2, 2016 @ 2:13 am

    In a nutshell it has the best UI!

    More reasons in the course!

    Reply
Anonymous
January 1, 2016 @ 11:25 pm

Eagerly waiting David

Reply
Tim Andrews
January 1, 2016 @ 9:11 pm

David this sounds absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to get started!

Reply
Chris
January 1, 2016 @ 8:25 pm

Can’t wait!

Reply
Nimesh
January 1, 2016 @ 8:24 pm

Something I have been waiting for like hundreds of other people.
One good news in 2016 :)

Reply
Anonymous
January 1, 2016 @ 7:23 pm

Pretty excited about episode 1.

Reply
Casey
January 1, 2016 @ 7:11 pm

I’m so excited to take the course. What a great post to start 2016!

Reply

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