Embracing
Modular Development
Patterns in Apex

Embracing
Modular Development
Patterns in Apex

Don Robins

Technical Educator
6x Salesforce MVP
Salesforce Certified PDII
Salesforce Training Partner
Salesforce Certified Instructor
Author of Books, Posts, Articles
Pluralsight "Salesforce Play by Play" Producer

Straw Poll

What's my goal?

To OPEN your eyes...

...and expose you to:

What's NOT my goal?

To NOT brainwash you...

...and to NOT persuade you to:

What - Why - How - Where

Let's identify the problem...

MONGO

(Alex Karras)

MONGO

hu-MONGO-us

"...a fusion of HUge, MONstrous, and tremendoUS"

"...a thoughtless brute!"

So what does Mongo
have to do with Salesforce?

Mongo ~ Mondo

-mon-

Latin root

Has the meaning "warn"

Found in such words as:
admonish, monitor, monster, premonition

(not to be confused with -mono-
from the Greek root -mons- meaning
"one" found in such words as:
monarch, monotheism, monogamy)

mondo

adjective

very large or great
in amount or number

(with a hint of a warning)

mondo coding pattern

noun

programming practices where
excessive amounts of
code are haphazardly
contained in any single
programmatic construct

mondo coding pattern

noun

programming practices where
excessive amounts of
code are haphazardly
contained in any single
programmatic construct

In the programming world
mondo coding patterns
are considered an
anti-pattern

anti-pattern

noun

a commonly used
process, structure or pattern
expected to be effective
but will have unintended
consequences - and where a
better and proven way exists

anti-pattern

noun

a commonly used
process, structure or pattern
expected to be effective
but will have unintended
consequences - and where a
better and proven way exists

mondo-mania

noun

a preponderance and
ever expanding use of
mondo coding anti-patterns

Mondo-mania
runs rampant in,
and terrorizes many
Salesforce orgs

(like Mongo)

How can you detect
mondo coding
anti-patterns
in your org?

They "smell"

(like Mongo)

code smell

noun

a characteristic of source code
suggesting a deeper problem

What are some
mondo coding anti-pattern
smells?

What are some
mondo coding anti-pattern
smells?

Where do mondo
coding anti-patterns
hide out?

Where do mondo
coding anti-patterns
hide out?

Let's sniff out some examples...

What "smells" can we find in this Class?

What "smells" can we find in this Controller Extension?

What's the solution?

CLEAN CODE

clean code

noun

code that can be understood with
little effort and in a short time
- intuitively understandable -
achieved by consciously using good
software design principles, patterns
and practices

What is one
Clean Code
design principle
that can help resolve
mondo-mania?

SoC

Separation of Concerns

separation of concerns

noun

a software design principal
of breaking down code into
distinct sections, each
addressing a specific concern

A program that embodies SoC well is called a modular program

SoC and Modularity Key Points

"The value of Separation of Concerns
is simplifying development and maintenance
of computer programs.

When concerns are well separated,
individual sections can be developed
and updated independently.

Of especial value is the ability to later
improve or modify one section of code without
having to know the details of other sections,
and without having to make corresponding
changes to those sections."

How do you implement
Separation of Concerns?

concern

noun

a set of information, data or logic
that effects some specific
behavior or aspect of
a software application

SoC
is an implementation
approach that leverages
collections of
software design patterns

(BUT it's NOT a framework!)

software framework

noun

a collection of reusable code
that implements a solution to a
common problem in software design

The fflib Apex Common Framework

Frameworks != Patterns

software design pattern

noun

a reusable solution
to a common problem
in software design

What SoC
design patterns
can help resolve
mondo-mania
in Salesforce?

What SoC
design patterns
can help resolve
mondo-mania
in Salesforce?

service layer

noun

a set of available services
(sets of software functionalities)
for the application’s operations
and their responses

In Apex:

The Service Layer sets
the boundary between the
business logic concerns
(the Services)

and those of the
calling execution context
(the Clients)

execution context client

noun

Apex classes or
triggers that are the
entry points for invocation
(controller, trigger, webservice, etc.)

What does a
Service Layer
implementation
look like in Apex?

Attendee Registration Reference App

AttendeeService Class

Called From a Component Controller

@AuraEnabled
public static Attendee saveAttendee(String attendeeJSON) {
	
    Attendee att = AttendeeService.saveAttendee(attendeeJSON);
	
    return getAttendee(att.recordId);
}
					

Called From a Visualforce Controller

public PageReference saveRegistrations() {
	
   AttendeeService.saveAttendee(this.attendee);

   PageReference pr = 
        new PageReference('/' + this.attendee.recordId);

   pr.setRedirect(true);
	
   return pr;
}
					

Called From a Trigger

trigger SessionRegistration 
		on Session_Registration__c (before insert) {
	
   AttendeeService.validateSessionRegistration(trigger.new);

}
					

What are
Service Layer benefits?

When is a Service Layer
worth the effort?

What are
Service Layer guidelines?

What about
non-Apex
services?

When you can't do what
you need in Apex...

implement your logic
as a microservice...

and host it
somewhere else

(Heroku, AWS, Azure, etc.)

microservice

noun

A loosely coupled, fine-grained
and lightweight web service

Microservice Use Case

Async Call Out

Mitigate with Mono-Purpose Microservices

Mitigate with Mono-Purpose Microservices

Mitigate with Mono-Purpose Microservices

Hungry for more?

Understanding Apex Enterprise Patterns and Separation of Concerns in Salesforce

Maximize Your Value Through
Salesforce Coding Best Practices

with Matt Kaufman

Adopting Trigger Design Patterns
in Existing Salesforce Orgs

with Dan Appleman

Automated Code Analysis in
Salesforce - a Tools Deep Dive

with Lorenzon Frattini and Robert Sösemann

Getting on the Bus - Event Based Architecture with Salesforce Platform Events

with Simon Goodyear

Follow the Salesforce Play By Play
series on Pluralsight and Youtube

Subscribe for a 30 Day
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“You must be imaginative, strong-hearted.
You must try things that may not work, and
you must not let anyone define your limits
because of where you come from. Your only
limit is your soul...

What I say is true —anyone can cook-
but only the fearless can be great.”

—Chef Auguste Gusteau, Ratatouille

Remmy was the little rat who
wanted to be a great chef and
prove that "Anyone can Cook!"

"Anyone can code
but only the fearless
(who dare to code properly)
can be great..."

dbr - Yeur Dreamin' 19

So which kind of
coder are you?

Mongo

Thoughtless, smelly, dirty...

So which kind of
coder are you?

Remmy

Fearless, innovative, clean...

Next Steps:

• Questions
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• Keep on learning and share with your Ohana

This presentation is on Github here:

Thanks!