Salesforce Platform Developer: Apex and Lightning

Objectives and progression

Independent preparation mapped to the four domains of the Platform Developer guide, which identifies Summer 25 when inspected in October 2026. Eight lessons connect models and identity, collections and configuration, queries and DML, triggers and asynchronous transactions, LWC data and events, security and Visualforce, testing, and delivery. The 58 original decisions use support and development situations, including one multiple-response item and eight cases with consequences and acceptable alternatives. The security-default change between API 66 and API 67 is explicit. The internal assessment reuses 32 decisions in 60 minutes. Initial coverage does not exhaust every official subtopic, execute Apex in an org, or award certification.

Audience: Salesforce developers, L3 support teams, and technical leads analyzing Apex changes, interfaces, and deliveries.

Prerequisites: Programming, data, and Salesforce configuration knowledge is useful. The guide requires no prior certification; it recommends development experience and around six months on the platform. Administrator is recommended, not mandatory. Learning links below are not official requirements.

380 estimated study minutes

• Choose relationships and identifiers preserving meaning, retention, and integrity.
• Reduce repeated work and assign each effect to the appropriate capability and phase.
• Distinguish search, persistence, matching, and transaction completion.
• Process collections and recover failures while respecting phases and transaction boundaries.
• Choose data paths and refresh the UI without repeating business operations.
• Review authorization and encoding without relying on old Apex assumptions.
• Demonstrate behavior using controlled inputs and correctly interpret deployment criteria.
• Confirm target, validation, and completion before communicating success or repeating changes.

Modules

1. Data model, identity, and metadata
2. Collections and choosing configuration or code
3. Queries, DML, and error outcomes
4. Triggers, limits, and asynchronous processing
5. LWC: data, events, and refreshing reads
6. Version-specific security and Visualforce interfaces
7. Useful tests, isolation, and coverage
8. Diagnostics, delivery, and job state

Continue learning

Service / Enterprise platforms

• Salesforce Certified Platform Administrator
• Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder
• SQL
• Git
• REST APIs
• Production Support L3

References and version

Platform Developer guide Summer 25

• Object Relationships · 2026-10-01
• Roll-Up Summary Fields · 2026-10-01
• Before-Save or After-Save Record-Triggered Flow · 2026-10-01
• Set the Trigger Order of Record-Triggered Flows · 2026-10-01
• Salesforce Certified Platform Developer Exam Guide · 2026-10-01
• Secure Apex Classes · 2026-10-01
• Developer guide to Summer26 release · 2026-10-01
• Map.NET Concepts to the Platform · 2026-10-01
• Use sObjects · 2026-10-01
• Differences between External ID and Unique field settings · 2026-10-01
• Bulk Apex Triggers · 2026-10-01
• Apex Trigger Fundamentals · 2026-10-01
• Manipulate Records with DML · 2026-10-01
• Introduction to SOQL and SOSL · 2026-10-01
• Write SOQL Queries · 2026-10-01
• Write SOSL Queries · 2026-10-01
• SOQL Injection contextual controls · 2026-10-01
• Secure Apex with Spring23 updates · 2026-10-01
• Lightning Data Service · 2026-10-01
• Understand the Wire Service · 2026-10-01
• Client-Side Caching of Apex Method Results · 2026-10-01
• Call Apex Methods Imperatively · 2026-10-01
• Expose Apex Methods to Lightning Web Components · 2026-10-01
• Create and Dispatch Events · 2026-10-01
• Visualforce Standard Controllers · 2026-10-01
• Building a Controller Extension · 2026-10-01
• Visualforce Cross Site Scripting · 2026-10-01
• Get Started with Apex Unit Tests · 2026-10-01
• Create Test Data for Apex Tests · 2026-10-01
• Test Apex Triggers · 2026-10-01
• Manage Source Tracking for Your Org · 2026-10-01
• Change or Open Your Default Org · 2026-10-01
• Add Trace Flags and Log Levels · 2026-10-01
• Introducing Agentforce for Developers · 2026-10-01
• Queueable Apex · 2026-10-01
• Salesforce CLI project deploy start · 2026-10-01
• Handle Errors from Apex · 2026-10-01
• Execution Context · 2026-10-01
• Error Handling Best Practices for LWC · 2026-10-01
• Batch Apex · 2026-10-01
• Develop Against Any Org · 2026-10-01