A Complete Guide to Apex Best Practices in 2025
In the fast-paced world of Salesforce development, Apex remains a crucial pillar for building robust, scalable, and secure applications. As we step into 2025, adhering to modern best practices in Apex development is more important than ever. This guide outlines the essential principles, patterns, and tips that every Apex developer should follow to write high-quality code.
Apex Class Design
Use the Right Sharing Model
Always specify sharing settings explicitly to avoid unexpected behavior:
– with sharing: Enforces record-level security.
– without sharing: Runs in system context.
Adopt the Service Layer Pattern
Organize your code with clear separation of concerns:
– Controller Layer: Handles UI or API logic.
– Service Layer: Contains business logic.
– Repository Layer: Handles data access.
Keep Classes Focused
Follow the Single Responsibility Principle. One class should do one thing and do it well.
Security Best Practices
Enforce CRUD and FLS
Use Security.stripInaccessible() to ensure field- and object-level security:
List<Account> safeAccounts = Security.stripInaccessible(
AccessType.READABLE,
[SELECT Id, Name FROM Account]
).getRecords();
Avoid Hardcoded Values
Use Custom Metadata or Custom Labels instead of hardcoding IDs or sensitive values.
SOQL & DML Optimization
Bulkify All Logic
Assume your code could be triggered with hundreds of records. Avoid queries or DML operations inside loops.
Use Collections and Maps
Optimize data processing by using sets and maps:
Map<Id, Account> accountMap = new Map<Id, Account>(
[SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Id IN :accountIds]
);
Aggregate When Needed
Use AggregateResult to summarize data efficiently.
Error Handling & Logging
Use Custom Exceptions
Define meaningful exceptions to isolate error types.
Implement Robust Logging
Use custom objects or platform events to log errors, especially in production environments.
Asynchronous Processing
Choose the Right Approach
– @future: Lightweight, limited.
– Queueable: Flexible, chainable.
– Batch Apex: Great for large datasets.
Consider Platform Events
Use Platform Events or Change Data Capture for real-time integrations and event-driven designs.
Testing Best Practices
Write Meaningful Tests
Cover logic, not just lines. Aim for 85%+ meaningful code coverage.
Use @testSetup
Prepare common test data efficiently.
Mock External Callouts
Use HttpCalloutMock to simulate API responses:
Test.setMock(HttpCalloutMock.class, new MyMock());
Naming Conventions & Code Organization
– Use descriptive, consistent names (e.g., InvoiceService, AccountTriggerHandler).
– Group related classes logically.
– Prefer enums over string literals for fixed values.
public enum InvoiceStatus {
Draft, Submitted, Paid, Cancelled
}
Integration Tips
Use Named Credentials
Securely manage external service credentials.
Use Continuation for Long Callouts
Improve user experience in VF pages with Continuation for long-running HTTP requests.
Final Thoughts
Code is read more than it’s written. Write Apex that is clean, secure, and scalable:
– Use static analysis tools like PMD or CodeScan.
– Embrace DevOps: version control, CI/CD, scratch orgs.
– Stay updated with Salesforce release notes and new APIs.
By following these best practices, you’ll be writing Apex code that not only works today but continues to serve well into the future.
Happy coding!