Apex Developer Guide

Apex Developer Guide
Release Notes
Getting Started with Apex
Introducing Apex
Apex Development Process
What is the Apex Development Process?
Choose a Salesforce Org for Apex Development
Choose a Development Environment for Writing Apex
Learning Apex
Writing Tests
Deploying Apex to a Sandbox Organization
Deploy Apex to a Salesforce Production Organization
Adding Apex Code to a AppExchange App
Apex Quick Start
Writing Apex
Running Apex
Debugging, Testing, and Deploying Apex
Apex Reference
Appendices
Glossary
PDF

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Choose a Development Environment for Writing Apex

There are several development environments for developing Apex code. Choose the environment that meets your needs.

Salesforce Extensions for Visual Studio Code and Code Builder

The Salesforce Extensions for Visual Studio Code and Code Builder are tools for developing on the Salesforce platform in the lightweight, extensible VS Code editor. These tools provide features for working with development orgs (scratch orgs, sandboxes, and developer edition orgs), Apex, Lightning components, and Visualforce.

Code Builder is a browser-based version of the desktop experience, with everything installed and configured. It provides all the goodness of the desktop experience, but provides you with the flexibility to work anywhere, from any computer.

Developer Console

The Developer Console is an integrated development environment (IDE) built into Salesforce. Use it to create, debug, and test Apex classes and triggers.

To open the Developer Console from Lightning Experience: Click the quick access menu (Gear icon in upper right of Salesforce org), then click Developer Console.

To open the Developer Console from Salesforce Classic: Click Your Name | Developer Console.

The Developer Console supports these tasks:

  • Writing code—You can add code using the source code editor. Also, you can browse packages in your organization.
  • Compiling code—When you save a trigger or class, the code is automatically compiled. Any compilation errors are reported.
  • Debugging—You can view debug logs and set checkpoints that aid in debugging.
  • Testing—You can execute tests of specific test classes or all tests in your organization, and you can view test results. Also, you can inspect code coverage.
  • Checking performance—You can inspect debug logs to locate performance bottlenecks.
  • SOQL queries—You can query data in your organization and view the results using the Query Editor.
  • Color coding and autocomplete—The source code editor uses a color scheme for easier readability of code elements and provides autocompletion for class and method names.

Salesforce Setup Code Editors

In Salesforce Setup, you can view and edit Apex classes and triggers.

All classes and triggers are compiled when they’re saved, and any syntax errors are flagged. You can’t save your code until it compiles without errors. The Salesforce user interface also numbers the lines in the code, and uses color coding to distinguish different elements, such as comments, keywords, literal strings, and so on.

  • From Setup in the Quick Find box, enter Apex, and select an Apex class or trigger. To edit it, click Edit beside the class or trigger name.
  • To create a trigger on an object, from Setup in the Quick Find box, enter Object and click Object Manager. Click the object name and click Triggers. Click New and enter your code.

You can’t use the Salesforce Setup code editors to modify Apex in a Salesforce production org.

Note

Additional Editors

Alternatively, you can use any text editor, such as Notepad, to write Apex code. Then either copy and paste the code into your application, or use one of the API calls to deploy it.

To develop an Apex IDE of your own, use SOAP API methods for compiling triggers and classes, and executing test methods. Use Metadata API methods for deploying code to production environments. For more information, see Deploying Apex and Using SOAP API to Deploy Apex.