We know each release brings with it lots of amazing new functionality and there can be a lot to digest. With Learn MOAR, we’re packaging the release and bringing it to you in an easy-to-digest format with blogs, videos, and more.

Spring into action with our newest release

It’s easy to get started!

  • Dig into Trailhead trailmixes with key release highlights for developers or admins, or both!
  • Each trailmix includes five posts from the Salesforce Admin and Salesforce Developer blogs that highlight great new features for developers and admins.
  • Get ready for Release Readiness Live! Join product experts and Developer Advocates to hear about new features in the Spring ’23 release and see them in action. At the end of our broadcast, we’ll be taking your questions. Tune in at 9 a.m. PT on January 20 for the developer broadcast. Unable to join us live? The recording will be posted (on the same page) a few hours after the broadcast has ended.

Follow and complete a Learn MOAR Spring ’23 trailmix for admins or developers by March 31, 2023, 11:59 p.m. PT, to earn a special community badge and be automatically entered for a chance to win one of five $200 USD Salesforce Certification vouchers. Restrictions apply. Learn how to participate and review the Official Rules by visiting the Trailhead Quests page.

Generally Available features

There are lots of features that are Generally Available in the Spring ’23 release that can help you be productive.

New additions to Apex

First up is: secure Apex code with user mode for database operations. The Apex code you write runs in the system context by default. With the user mode for database operations, developers can run SOQL and DML in the user context.

For example, to make sure the query runs in user mode, use the WITH USER_MODE keyword in your SOQL statement.

Similarly, for DML operations, you now specify user mode as shown below.

In addition to the above, some other features for Apex worth noting include:

  • Find which classes implement an interface by running a simple SOQL query on the ApexTypeImplementor object
  • Use the new getSObjectType() method to get the SObjectType of a Schema.DescribeFieldResult object, therefore eliminating the need to write additional code to determine parent relationships
  • Specify a delay in scheduling queueable jobs, enabling you to not consume async limits rapidly
  • Use new Database.queryWithBinds, Database.getQueryLocatorWithBinds, and Database. countQueryWithBinds methods for dynamically passing bind variables to a SOQL query

Lightning Web Components are getting important productivity features

Lightning Web Components (LWC) now have improved render time, new conditional directives, improved debugging experience for wire adaptors, and a new way to query DOM elements. There is more info on each of these features in the blog post: LWC Enhancements for Developers | Learn MOAR Spring ’23.

Salesforce Functions now supports Python

With the Spring ’23 release of Salesforce Functions, we have added Python to the list of supported languages that includes Java and JavaScript. With the availability of Python, developers can now tap into the power of Python’s libraries for use cases like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the internet of things (IoT), as well as image, text, and speech processing, and much more.

Python logo

In addition, some other features worth noting in this release of Salesforce Functions include:

  • Support for Bulk APIs in Functions SDK
  • Support for custom Cloud Native Buildpacks for Functions
  • Binary field support within Functions SDK

To learn more, check out the blog post: Salesforce Functions Enhancements for Developers | Learn MOAR Spring ’23.

Improvements to developer tooling

Salesforce DevOps Center has been Generally Available since December 2022. DevOps Center makes it easier to migrate metadata changes between environments and adhere to change management best practices, including leveraging source control.

DevOps Center setup screen

Salesforce CLI supports additional metadata for source commands and adds significant improvements, including my favorite feature: improved typing experience. To learn more, check out this blog post: Developer Tooling Updates | Learn MOAR Spring ’23.

Quick Clone for Partial and Full sandboxes hosted on Hyperforce is now Generally Available (GA). This technology enhances the speed at which sandboxes can be replicated.

Enhancement to Salesforce APIs

We have expanded limits for External Services, therefore allowing you to register even more complex Open API specifications. In another important enhancement, tooling objects enable querying of the delegated group access.

Check out the blog post, External Services & API Updates, to learn more about External Services enhancements and other API updates coming to this release.

Beta features

Data transformations with DataWeave (Beta) — With Spring ’23, Apex developers can leverage DataWeave, a functional programming language for data transformation.

Build screens with reactive components (Beta) — With this feature, you can use supported Screen Flow components or LWC within Flows to build a screen like a single page application (SPA). Components on the same screen can now be configured to interact with each other via events.

Refresh API for LWC (Beta) – There is a new lightning/refresh module that provides a standard way to refresh for Salesforce Platform containers and custom components. This is a long-awaited replacement for the legacy Aura force:refreshView that LWC was missing.

Light DOM in LWC (Beta) — Light DOM support allows developers to apply global styles for their LWC components. The light DOM also makes it easier to integrate with third-party libraries that traverse the DOM.

Pilot features

Please note that features in Pilot require you to contact your account executive to apply for the pilot before the feature can be enabled for your orgs.

GraphQL Wire Adapter (Pilot) — Built on the Salesforce GraphQL API, the GraphQL wire adapter enables developers to use UI API-enabled objects with the object-level security and field-level security of the current user within LWC. The wire adapter is equipped with client-side caching and data management capabilities provided by Lightning Data Service.

Learn MOAR this week

Our Product Managers and Developer Advocates are back to share the latest features and functionality. To help you develop faster, there’s a wealth of new content from Developer Relations covering their favorite new features. Be sure to check out Release Readiness Live on Friday, January 20th at 9:00 PST, and read all the latest Salesforce Developers blog posts for more developer-related innovations in the Spring ’23 release!

Lastly, we will implement some of these new features in our sample apps. Keep an eye out by following these apps in our GitHub repositories.

To learn even more, check out the Spring ’23 trailmix.

About the author

Mohith Shrivastava
Mohith Shrivastava is a Developer Advocate at Salesforce with a decade of experience building enterprise-scale products on the Salesforce Platform. He is presently focusing on the Salesforce Developer Tools, Flow, Apex, and Lightning Web Components at Salesforce. Mohith is currently among the lead contributors on Salesforce Stack Exchange, a developer forum where Salesforce Developers can ask questions and share knowledge. You can follow him via his Twitter @msrivastav13.

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