I. Introduction▲
Salesforce often suggests new content on the web platform Trailhead to allow people learning how to use Salesforce.
Last week, the Trailhead team of Salesforce released 1 new trail and 6 new badges.
Below, the list of what is new :
- Trail : Adminn advanced trail ;
- Modules : Apex Integration Services, Advanced Formulas, LEX Chatter Basics, LEX Data Management and Application Lifecycle Management ;
- Project : Build a Battle Station App.
II. What is Trailhead ?▲
Trailhead is a web platform for newbies, developers and administrators who would like to learn how to navigate, customize and manage Salesforce by completing fun modules.
It helps you to implement best practices and correctly work with your data using Salesforce.com.
There are a lot of helpful modules, trails and projects on Trailhead with differents levels, from beginner to advanced.
There are currently 53 modules, 13 trails 17 projects and 70 badges, so you have some work to do !
III. Requirements▲
To complete the challenges, you will need a developer environment.
If you don't have one of these yet, click on this link right now to sign up and join the adventure on Trailhead, it's free !
IV. What is a module ?▲
Modules are a set of steps with a description of a Salesforce feature and questions or exercises to check that you understand.
A trail is a set of modules grouped by categories : accounts, opportunities, reports, Apex triggers, Apex testing, Visualforce, Chatter, ..
Projects are regroupings of everything you learned during the different modules : data model, Apex classes, SOQL, Visualforce, dashboards, Salesforce1, ..
When you complete the exercises and challenges, you earn badges that you can display on your Trailhead profile and show to the world that you are the best !
Below, an example of a question and exercise that you can check for a module :
Questions :
Exercise :
V. Integrate with external apps using Apex REST and SOAP services▲
In this module, you will learn :
- what are the differents protocols to send and receive data in Salesforce ;
- how to perform a callout to receive data from an external service ;
- how to perform a callout to send data to an external service ;
- how to test callouts by using mock callouts.
In each module, you will have a small test to realize to show your understanding.
To success, you need an organization. If not, please go to the chapter III. Requirements.
V-A. Apex Integration Overview▲
The first module explains you the differences between web service and HTTP callouts and how to authorize a endpoint access in Salesforce for Salesforce can interact with it.
V-B. Apex REST Callouts▲
In this module, you will be able to perform a callout to receive data from an external service, perform a callout to send data to an external service and test callout by using mock callout.
V-C. Apex SOAP Callouts▲
During the third module, you will perform a callout with the SOAP protocol by using a WSDL file to generate Apex class and test it with a mock callout.
V-D. Apex Web Services▲
In the last module, you will learn how to develop a REST Apex web service to use with each HTTP method (GET, POST, PUT, ..) with an URL mapping and how to test them.
VI. Conclusion▲
In this article, you learnt what is the Trailhead platform, the differences between a web service and a HTTP callout, how to perform a callout to receive and send data with Salesforce and the different protocols (REST, SOAP), and how to test a web service with a mock response.
When you complete this module, you could go to the other one and project to learn everything you have to know.
So, don't waste your time and go on the website Trailhead to learn how becoming an expert with the Salesforce web service !