I would like to give my thoughts on how to pursue system development while retaining the high productivity that Force.com offers.
“Force.com can generate 5x development productivity compared to Java and .NET”
If you have ever considered implementing Salesforce, or if you are Force.com developer, I assume you have heard this phrase at least once.
So you might wonder how accurate it actually is. From my point of view, efficiency and productivity of Force.com mentioned here are true but do not necessarily apply to all occasions.
If you customize Salesforce with standard features of Force.com (Force.com builder, declarative programming by using a mouse) and create an application, it’s possible to enhance efficiency and productivity of development by more than 5 times, if it hits right.
However, if you develop the program by coding Apex which is a unique language of Force.com, perhaps you would not make a big difference in terms of efficiency compared to Java.
Based on these factors, the most important point for increasing development efficiency and productivity on Force.com is
To offer the best possible solution to meet the requirements with standard features as much as possible after understanding standard features to a full extent.
This is a known issue for almost everyone who has built an application on Force.com.
Although it sounds quite simple, in reality, you may notice this is not something you can do so easily once you put into effect.
The first obstacle many people face is to fully understand Salesforce’s standard features at the outset.
Salesforce offers a great variety of features. Besides, they upgrade the system three times a year. Thus it is very difficult to understand all the features exist within Salesforce by individuals.
If you have only scarce knowledge and skills, there is a high possibility that you would mistakenly judge it’s not feasible with standard features, and thus proceed with scratch coding.
However, as I mentioned earlier, the more scratch development is applied, the less overwhelming efficiency and productivity of Force.com become.
In order to avoid this, Force.com developers need to stay updated themselves with product information (*1) as well as version upgrade to provide the best solution to customers.
(*1) Such as SalesCloud, ServiceCloud, MarketingCloud, Salesforce Work.com
It is important to recognize standard features and scratch development are in a relationship of trade-off relation. Therefore careful consideration is necessary.
In fact, current standard features are sourced by real voices from users. And we can expect this trend would never end. We hope to encourage SIers to use standard features as much as possible.
Hope my article helps you understand the importance of standard features in terms of better efficiency and productivity.