adminOctober 16, 2024The increasing demand for the Salesforce platform in the market can be your career change and future success. Candidates with an interest in custom app development can get a great career opportunity with online Salesforce developer training and certification. This certified recognition will help you build better opportunities for the future and success in your career path. However, before you step into this path, it is important to get complete information on what, when, where, why, and how these certification and training programs are available. Let’s dive deep to know about Salesforce Platform Developer Certification Guide and Tips.
What is Salesforce Platform Developer Certification?
Salesforce is a well-known CRM platform in the market as many mid- to high-level organizations, like Google and Spotify, utilize it for better management. That’s why many candidates train and prepare for the Salesforce developer job role, as it pays well and has great success in future career growth. Anyone from a non-tech or tech background can start and create a great career in Salesforce as it has its own programming language called Apex, which doesn’t require pre-knowledge of any programming language. Anyone can simply get started with the basics and get the knack of this platform with the right Salesforce developer training and certification.
Why Should You Get Certified?
A well-recognized candidate with proper Salesforce developer training has a higher chance of getting seen in tons of applications. It not only gives your skills the stamp that you are doing well but also increases your demand in the market compared to non-certified ones. You can get great benefits like below:
- Career Advancement: Yes, if you want a raise in your pay scale or want to climb a more progressive and growing career path, the Salesforce developer training and certification can help you get both.
- Competitive Edge: You will shine among all the applicants as a certified Salesforce developer who attains great knowledge with which you passed the exam and attained this certification. High-level companies require proper certification to prove your knowledge and command over what you are doing.
- Networking: It’s a great way to network among different companies and with different students and experts in the Salesforce environment. You can create your own place above all with your work and connection with professionals in the field, helping you in your career and future growth.
Exam Structure and Key Areas
Before you just jump into something, it is imperative that you understand it completely. That’s why it is very essential to know the complete exam pattern and key points to get yourself prepared better.
- This exam includes 60 Multiple-Choice Questions.
- You will be allotted 105 minutes for this exam.
- Everyone’s passing score on the exam is 65%.
- It will cost you around $200 (plus applicable taxes).
- You have two options for the exam, either you can give it at the center nearby or you can also choose to give an online exam under the supervision of a proctor.
- As a prerequisite, you can go through the complete Salesforce Developer course syllabus.
Prerequisites for the Exam
You have to focus on various prerequisites to prepare 100% for your exam and get a better score for a successful career. So, you need to create a list of everything that you want to learn and attain for this Salesforce developer exam.
- Familiarity with Object-Oriented Programming (OOP).
- Hands-on experience with Salesforce development, especially on Apex, Visualforce, and the declarative tools.
- Get a better understanding of basic web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, especially for UI components (Lightning Web Components).
Some of the Vital Key Areas Are Highlighted Below:
The exam includes a lot of topics and concepts from the Salesforce development processes. The division of all the key areas is as follows:
- Salesforce Fundamentals (7%): Understand the Salesforce data model and architecture.
- Data Modeling and Management (13%): Concepts related to objects, fields, relationships, and data management.
- Logic and Process Automation (40%): Core focus on Apex, triggers, batch Apex, and declarative automation tools like flows and workflows.
- User Interface (23%): Visualforce, Lightning Components, and Lightning Web Components (LWC).
- Testing, Debugging, and Deployment (17%): Apex testing framework and deployment best practices.
These are the key areas that you need to study and prepare with online Salesforce developer training. But what are these concepts actually, and what should you focus on? Here is a comprehensive list of topics that you need to focus on in order to get ready for your exam.
- Apex Programming
As you may already know, Salesforce has its own programming language – Apex. You have to learn the basics of it that includes the data types, collections, control flow, SOQL and SOSL. These processes in Apex help you create various custom functionalities to build an app as per the specific requirement of an organization.
- Visualforce Pages
To give a better visual experience to your users, you need an effective UI/UX builder, which is Visualforce in the Salesforce platform. Hence, it is vital to learn its use in order to build the desired UI for every application.
- Lightning Web Components (LWC)
LWC is the framemaker that empowers developers to leverage standard web development technologies like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS to create dynamic web applications without relying on proprietary frameworks. It results in faster and more efficient performance, easily adaptable, reused across applications, and adheres closely to those standards. So, it makes the components reusable and responsive. While LWC and Aura are both component-based frameworks, LWC provides a more modern approach to development.
| Features | LWC | Aura |
| Framework Size | Lightweight and optimized | Heavier and slower |
| Browser Standards | Built using modern web standards | Proprietary framework |
| Performance | Faster due to less overhead | Slower due to custom code |
| Component Lifecycle | Simplified lifecycle hooks | Complex lifecycle hooks |
| Code Reusability | High reusability with native web components | Reusability but limited by Aura concepts |
| JavaScript Support | Full ECMAScript 6+ support | Limited support for modern JS |
| Ease of Learning | Easier for web developers | Steer learning curve |
- Triggers
With Triggers, you can perform custom actions before and after changes occur in Salesforce records. From inserting and updating to deleting or undeleting data, this Apex code block gives you the power to execute automatically when certain database events occur. Here’s the basic structure of a trigger:
- SOQL vs. SOSL
SOQL (Salesforce Object Query Language) and SOSL (Salesforce Object Search Language) are both query languages used in Salesforce to retrieve data from the platform, but they serve different purposes and have distinct syntax and use cases. Key Differences Between SOQL and SOSL.
| Feature | SOQL | SOSL |
| Purpose | Query specific records from one or more related objects | Full-text search based on keywords |
| Search type | Structured queries on fields of objects | Full-text search based on keywords |
| Returns | Records from specified objects and fields | Results from multiple objects |
| Search scope | Searches within specific fields and objects | Searches across multiple objects in indexed fields |
| Use case | Fetching records with known object structure | Searching for keywords across salesforce records |
| Filters | Use WHERE clause for filtering | No complex filtering (searchers keywords only) |
- Security and Sharing
Developers utilize the Security and Sharing feature to control data access at various levels. This way, the admin can restrict or give access to various functionalities to authorized users based on their roles, permissions, and sharing rules. Salesforce offers multiple security layers to protect data, from the organization level to individual records.
- Test Classes
Developers utilize test classes to check and ensure the quality and reliability of Apex code. This is the easiest way to validate your code and ensure it works as expected. Salesforce has mandated to test at least 75% of Apex code with tests before deploying it to production.
How Do You Prepare for Salesforce Platform Developer Certification and Job?
The next step after knowing everything about a task is to plan and prepare for it. Just like that, you need to get the proper Salesforce developer training online to take the exam and attain your certification without hassle. But the question is HOW? Here are three of the best and most suggested ways to speed up your journey and help you achieve success in the end.
- Trailhead
The free online learning platform of Salesforce, Trailhead, is the best place to get started with your online Salesforce developer training. It has fun, specific learning paths, called trails, to build skills and knowledge in various Salesforce-related topics. Each trail includes hands-on challenges, quizzes, and modules, making it an engaging and practical way to learn. These trails align with the exam objectives, offering a comprehensive and structured learning approach.
- Salesforce Documentation
If you want to look for more detailed explanations of key concepts, APIs, and development guidelines, Salesforce developer documentation is what you need. It is the official and in-depth resource provided by Salesforce that includes finer details of the Salesforce platform, Apex, Visualforce, Lightning components, and more. You “MUST READ” these documents to deepen your knowledge of Salesforce, as they provide authoritative insights into the functionality, best practices, and implementation techniques required to master the platform and excel in Salesforce developer training and certifications.
- Online Salesforce Developer Training Provider
You can also register with the best online Salesforce developer training course in the USA, like QuantoKnack. We have expert mentors who have years of experience in the Salesforce environment and are keen to share their knowledge with the students. From various concepts to practicing time management for your exam, we will guide you all with the help of our practice tests. The live sessions will help you learn with interactions where you can ask your questions and get solutions from the professionals. Also, you can utilize the recorded sessions to revise all the concepts from the classes. This way, you can prepare better for the written exam.
A lot of students ask, but what about practical knowledge? Yes, we have live projects for you to work on as well. Solve various use cases and become an expert in the Salesforce environment, getting extra skills for better placement assistance with one of our partnered organizations. So, from learning for exams to getting hands-on experience for job placement, our online Salesforce developer training and placement program covers all for you.
Tips for Exam Preparation
Ready for some extra tips from our experts? Here are the 5 major tips that will lead you to the path of success in your Salesforce journey.
- Get Hands-on Experience
Experiencing how things actually work and what actions are required to solve various hurdles in the path of Salesforce development and implementation is very important. Hence, make sure that you work around Salesforce and attain at least some practical knowledge of how things are done. Look for opportunities where you can work with the Salesforce environment, whether through a job or a Salesforce Developer training program.
- Set and Follow a Study Schedule Strictly
Whether you are studying for your senior secondary or college or Salesforce developer certification, it is very important to create a proper plan and follow it strictly. Our professionals suggest that the key to success is in your consistency towards the work. If you study a little bit daily, it will definitely give you great results after a while.
- Join Online Communities
You can join the Trailhead and other Salesforce online communities. A lot of experts and students like you are already there, some with the questions and some with the solutions. Join them in order to learn about the various use cases that everyone has to face while using the Salesforce platform development and implementation. You can even post your questions as well if you have any, and the experts will share the solution with some resources where you can study it in depth.
- Understand the Exam Question Format
You have to learn the exam structure in order to crack it. Above are all the key areas with the percentage of questions they cover in the exam, so focus on them. Also, I solved various practice tests, studied question papers from previous years, and watched some videos related to them. This way, you can understand the pattern of your Salesforce developer certification exam better and get a knack for it.
- Focus on Weak Areas
It is very good to know what you are good at, but it is really helpful to know your weaknesses. Hence, you need to focus on the topic areas that you are weak at. Yes, start by making your basics strong and then revise the concepts you are good at, but practice the problems that stop you or take more time. Ask for easy ways to solve those problems with the professionals at online Salesforce developer training or the community people. Guidance can take you to your destination faster than doing it all by yourself.
Conclusion
This blog includes everything that you need to win and complete your Salesforce developer certification. This guide can help you score better in your exam as well as gain some practical knowledge while preparing for it to get started with your job easily. QuantoKnack training can be a good choice if you are interested in learning, training, and getting job assistance with highly reputed organizations in the USA. If you are interested or have any questions, reach out today, and our experts will guide you better.
