Since my career began in Salesforce over 10 years ago, the landscape of how we design and implement core solutions on the platform has changed dramatically. As the VP of Engineering here at Red Argyle, I’ve enjoyed watching the platform capabilities mature, allowing us to do more than ever for our customers.
“Back in my day,” there was a clear delineation between what a Salesforce Admin does versus the role of a developer, and that was driven by the capabilities of Salesforce. The platform only went so far: we needed custom UI to dynamically display components on a screen; automations like process builder and flow needed a custom trigger to handle more robust needs, etc.
Today, it’s becoming much more clear as to where Salesforce is heading: configurable, low-code solutions are the future.
These solutions will undoubtedly amplify builds to the next level and allow for rapid, easy to maintain custom processes to be built and deployed. Flows and invocable methods will leverage the impact of low-code to make the impossible possible. When we do opt to use code, it can be minimized and inserted within these low code frameworks, dramatically cutting down on development effort and maintenance. .A little bit of code and dynamic interactions means the configuration of code can amplify your org and the experience for your users. This approach is the future of Salesforce, and one we’ve been excited about for a long time.
- Flow + Invocable = endless possibilities. We’re leveraging the configurability of flows combined with a little bit of code to simplify our ons. It allows our clients to configure additional aspects of their flows without needing to touch Apex and scale as they continue to grow.
- Dynamic Interactions = creates a powerful UI to support and optimize your team throughout their daily activities. I’m very excited for this feature (coming out in 2022!) because it allows us to easily eliminate the need for a gazillion clicks and simplify the user’s experience all from the lightning page.
- Platform Events = extended capabilities. Platform Events are becoming more and more crucial to our solutions. We’re using them everywhere, from receiving events from an integration, to protecting the security of a public community.
- Dynamic Forms = serious gamechanger. These may not be as glamorous as the new features in lightning flow, but it’s a big deal for your users.. We no longer have to create a custom Lightning Web Component or quick action to dynamically display fields on a page. Instead, you can customize where and when certain fields exist. (Note this is only available for custom objects but standard objects are coming soon.)
These new changes are undoubtedly a win-win. You will be able to do more for your users without interrupting processing time or day-to-day operations. Users will be able to experience a seamless workflow while you are optimizing their experience. It will also be much easier for your engineering team. It will be lower risk because instead of checking multiple disparate configuration points, this low-code approach centralizes the work and makes it cleaner so you will not have as much technical debt. And in our experience, less technical debt makes for a cleaner, more efficient org!
With that said, the need for code is not going away! Rather, we’re using it to maximum effect in a prescribed, careful fashion and when it is still the best architectural choice. It stands out when we need to : create a beautiful user experience in the platform or on a community, leverage for crazy, complex solutions to protect scalability, and much more.
We’re ecstatic about where the platform is heading and would love to help you learn more about how you can leverage some of the new low code features, contact us and let’s talk!
