Apex Developer Guide

Apex Developer Guide
Getting Started with Apex
Writing Apex
Data Types and Variables
Data Types
Primitive Data Types
Collections
Enums
Variables
Constants
Expressions and Operators
Expressions
Expression Operators
Operator Precedence
Comments
Assignment Statements
Rules of Conversion
Control Flow Statements
Classes, Objects, and Interfaces
Working with Data in Apex
Running Apex
Debugging, Testing, and Deploying Apex
Apex Language Reference
Appendices
Glossary
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Expressions

An expression is a construct made up of variables, operators, and method invocations that evaluates to a single value.

In Apex, an expression is always one of the following types:

  • A literal expression. For example:
  • A new sObject, Apex object, list, set, or map. For example:
  • Any value that can act as the left-hand of an assignment operator (L-values), including variables, one-dimensional list positions, and most sObject or Apex object field references. For example:
  • Any sObject field reference that is not an L-value, including:
    • The ID of an sObject in a list (see Lists)
    • A set of child records associated with an sObject (for example, the set of contacts associated with a particular account). This type of expression yields a query result, much like SOQL and SOSL queries.
  • A SOQL or SOSL query surrounded by square brackets, allowing for on-the-fly evaluation in Apex. For example:

    For information, see SOQL and SOSL Queries.

  • A static or instance method invocation. For example: