Newer Version Available
Salesforce Knowledge, Apex, and Visualforce
Apex is a strongly typed, object-oriented programming language that allows developers to execute flow and transaction control statements on the Force.com platform server in conjunction with calls to the Force.com API. Using syntax that looks like Java and acts like database stored procedures, Apex enables developers to add business logic to most system events, including button clicks, related record updates, and Visualforce pages. Apex code can be initiated by Web service requests and from triggers on objects.
Visualforce is a framework that allows developers to build sophisticated, custom user interfaces that can be hosted natively on the Force.com platform. The Visualforce framework includes a tag-based markup language, similar to HTML, and a set of server-side “standard controllers” that makes basic database operations, such as queries and saves, very simple to perform.
Due to the endless possibilities with Apex and Visualforce, only the Apex Publishing Service class is in this guide. For more Apex and Visualforce information see the Apex Developer Guide and the Visualforce Developer Guide.