# Extracting Data from the API

| Goal                                | Best Practice                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| ----------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Using the most efficient operations | <ul><li>Use the `getUpdated()` and `getDeleted()` SOAP API to sync an external system with Salesforce at intervals greater than 5 minutes. Use the outbound messaging feature for more frequent syncing.</li><li>When using a query that can return more than one million results, consider using the query capability of the Bulk API 2.0, which might be more suitable.</li></ul> |