Salesforce Platform App Builder Certification Guide

Salesforce Platform App Builder Certification Guide

by Paul Goodey
Released November 2020
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781800206434

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Book description

Get up to speed with the essential concepts and techniques necessary to prepare for the Salesforce Platform App Builder certification exam

Key Features

  • Prepare for the Salesforce Platform App Builder certification exam by exploring important concepts and expert tips and techniques
  • Design the data model, user interface, business logic, and security for custom apps
  • Understand the key milestones and considerations when managing an application lifecycle

Book Description

Do you want to be able to confidently design and build apps that support business processes within the Lightning Platform? Salesforce Platform App Builder Certification Guide not only helps you to do this, but also prepares you for the certification exam.

The book starts by describing the core capabilities of the Lightning Platform. You'll learn techniques for data modeling to design, build, and deploy apps without writing code and achieve rapid results with the declarative capabilities that the Lightning Platform provides. Next, you'll explore utilities for importing and exporting data and the features available in the Lightning Platform to restrict and extend access to objects, fields, and records. You'll also be able to customize the Salesforce Lightning Experience user interface (UI) and build functionality for custom buttons, links, and actions. Later, this certification study guide will take you through reporting and the social and mobile features of the Lightning Platform. Finally, you'll get to grips with Salesforce build environments and deployment options.

By the end of this Salesforce book, you'll not only have learned how to build data models, enforce data security, and implement business logic and process automation, but also have gained the confidence to pass the Platform App Builder exam and achieve Salesforce certification.

What you will learn

  • Explore the core features of the Lightning Platform
  • Design and build an appropriate data model for a given scenario
  • Identify the Lightning Platform's features and capabilities
  • Customize the Salesforce Lightning Experience UI
  • Implement business logic and process automation
  • Identify the capabilities of declarative customization

Who this book is for

This book is for beginners and aspiring developers who want to learn how to build apps on the Salesforce Platform or pass the Salesforce Platform App Builder certification exam. Salesforce administrators and existing Salesforce Lightning Platform developers looking to learn more about the declarative, non-programmatic app building capabilities of the Salesforce Lightning Platform will also find this book useful.

Table of contents

  1. Salesforce Platform App Builder Certification Guide
  2. Why subscribe?
  3. Contributors
  4. About the author
  5. About the reviewer
  6. Packt is searching for authors like you
  7. Preface
    1. Who this book is for
    2. What this book covers
    3. To get the most out of this book
    4. Download the color images
    5. Conventions used
    6. Get in touch
    7. Reviews
  8. Section 1: Introduction to the Lightning Platform Core
  9. Chapter 1: Core Capabilities of the Lightning Platform
    1. Exam objectives – Salesforce Fundamentals
    2. Understanding the Salesforce Lightning Platform
      1. Sharing system resources by using multitenancy
      2. Building business solutions within a metadata-driven development model
      3. Looking at the features and capabilities of Salesforce objects
    3. Learning about the standard Salesforce CRM objects
      1. The Campaign object
      2. The Lead object
      3. Lead conversion
      4. The Account object
      5. The Person Account object
      6. The Contact object
      7. The Opportunity object
      8. The Case object
    4. Customizing the Lightning Platform
      1. Programmatic customization
      2. Declarative customization
      3. Process Builder action types
      4. Flow action types
      5. Workflow and approval action types
      6. General use cases for programmatic customization
    5. Exploring Salesforce AppExchange
      1. Apps
      2. Components
      3. Flow solutions
      4. Bolt Solutions
      5. Lightning Data
      6. Consultants
      7. Installing an app from AppExchange
      8. AppExchange best practices
    6. Questions to test your knowledge
      1. Question 1 – Lead conversion
      2. Question 2 – Case automation
      3. Question 3 – Customizing the Lightning Platform for marketing
      4. Question 4 – Customizing the Lightning Platform for sales
      5. Question 5 – Salesforce AppExchange
      6. Answer 1 – Lead conversion
      7. Answer 2 – Case automation
      8. Answer 3 – Customizing the Lightning Platform for marketing
      9. Answer 4 – Customizing the Lightning Platform for sales
      10. Answer 5 – Salesforce AppExchange
    7. Summary
  10. Chapter 2: Designing and Building a Data Model
    1. Exam objectives – Data Modeling and Management
    2. Designing a data model
      1. Example scenario – custom lead assignment
      2. Identifying the data model entities
      3. Translating the data model entities to Salesforce objects
      4. Creating custom objects using Object Manager
    3. Relationship types and considerations
      1. The lookup relationship type
      2. The master-detail relationship type
      3. The hierarchical relationship type
      4. The many-to-many relationship type
      5. Creating the junction object
      6. Choosing the data type for the object record name
      7. Setting options for the Auto Number data type
      8. Creating relationship fields using Object Manager
    4. Selecting the appropriate field type
      1. Creating custom fields using Object Manager
    5. Considerations when changing the type of a custom field
      1. Situations and types of fields that are fully restricted
      2. Situations and types of fields that have partial restrictions
    6. Data modeling with Schema Builder
      1. Creating custom fields using Schema Builder
      2. Modifying elements using Schema Builder
    7. Questions to test your knowledge
      1. Question 1 – Designing a data model
      2. Question 2 – The many-to-many relationship type
      3. Question 3 – The master-detail relationship type
      4. Question 4 – Changing relationship types
      5. Question 5 – Changing a Picklist type to a Picklist (Multi-Select) type
      6. Question 6 – Using Schema Builder
      7. Question 7 – Capabilities of Schema Builder
      8. Answer 1 – Designing a data model
      9. Answer 2 – The many-to-many relationship type
      10. Answer 3 – The master-detail relationship type
      11. Answer 4 – Changing relationship types
      12. Answer 5 – Changing a Picklist type to a Picklist (Multi-Select) type
      13. Answer 6 – Using Schema Builder
      14. Answer 7 – Capabilities of Schema Builder
    8. Summary
  11. Chapter 3: Importing and Exporting Data
    1. Exam objectives – Data modeling and management
    2. Importing and exporting data to and from the Lightning Platform
      1. Importing and exporting data using Data Loader
      2. Importing data using Data Import Wizard
      3. Exporting data using Data Export
      4. Scheduling an export of data using Data Export
      5. Manually exporting data using Data Export
    3. Understanding the features and capabilities of external objects
      1. Understanding relationship types of external objects
    4. Questions to test your knowledge
      1. Question 1 – Importing data into the Lightning Platform
      2. Question 2 – Importing and exporting data using Data Loader
      3. Question 3 – Importing data using Data Import Wizard
      4. Question 4 – External data access
      5. Answer 1 – Importing data into the Lightning Platform
      6. Answer 2 – Importing and exporting data using Data Loader
      7. Answer 3 – Importing data using Data Import Wizard
      8. Answer 4 – External data access
    5. Summary
  12. Section 2: Behind the Scenes
  13. Chapter 4: Securing Access to Data
    1. Exam objectives – Data Security
    2. Understanding the layers of data security in the Lightning Platform
      1. Understanding the difference between permission settings and roles
    3. Learning about Profiles and Permission Sets
      1. Understanding the features and capabilities of Profiles
      2. Understanding the features and capabilities of Permission Sets
    4. Setting up data access for objects and fields
      1. Configuring data access for objects
      2. Cloning a standard Profile
      3. Configuring Profiles to control access
      4. Configuring data access for fields
      5. Creating Permission Sets to control access
      6. Assigning permission sets to users
    5. Controlling data access to records
      1. Understanding record ownership
      2. Establishing organization-wide defaults
      3. Defining the role hierarchy
      4. Configuring sharing rules
      5. Extending access using manual sharing
      6. Widening record-level access using other sharing features
    6. Summarizing data security capabilities in the Lightning Platform
    7. Questions to test your knowledge
      1. Question 1 – Object permission settings
      2. Question 2 – Field permission settings
      3. Question 3 – Granting other users access to records
      4. Question 4 – Data access options for records
      5. Question 5 – Data access issues
      6. Question 6 – Limiting data access
      7. Answer 1 – Object permission settings
      8. Answer 2 – Field permission settings
      9. Answer 3 – Granting other users access to records
      10. Answer 4 – Data access options for records
      11. Answer 5 – Data access issues
      12. Answer 6 – Limiting data access
    8. Summary
  14. Chapter 5: Setting Up the User Interface
    1. Exam objectives – User interface
    2. Learning about the user interface options
      1. Supported browsers and devices
      2. Configuring the user interface settings
      3. Creating apps and tabs in the Lightning Platform
      4. Understanding record types
    3. Using declarative options with Lightning components
      1. Building apps with the Lightning App Builder
      2. Configuring Lightning Pages
    4. Determining appropriate user interface designs
    5. Considering Lightning components and performance
    6. Questions to test your knowledge
      1. Question 1 – Navigating between apps
      2. Question 2 – Custom buttons and links
      3. Question 3 – Actions
      4. Question 4 – Global actions
      5. Question 5 – Lightning App Builder
      6. Question 6 – Lightning home page
      7. Question 7 – Standard Lightning Components options
      8. Question 8 – Standard Lightning Components – key information
      9. Answer 1 – Navigating between apps
      10. Answer 2 – Custom buttons and links
      11. Answer 3 – Actions
      12. Answer 4 – Global actions
      13. Answer 5 – Lightning App Builder
      14. Answer 6 – Lightning home page
      15. Answer 7 – Standard Lightning Components options
      16. Answer 8 – Standard Lightning Components – key information
    7. Summary
  15. Chapter 6: Implementing Business Logic
    1. Exam objectives – Business Logic and Process Automation
    2. Using record types to control business logic
      1. Implementing different varieties of records
      2. Presenting different processes for users
      3. Considering the impact of creating record types
      4. Using record types with standard objects
    3. Building custom field types for formula and roll-up summary calculations
      1. Understanding formula calculations
      2. Building a custom formula field
      3. Applying best practices when building formula fields
      4. Troubleshooting formula text and compilation limits
      5. Understanding roll-up summary calculations
    4. Enforcing data quality with the use of validation rules
    5. Questions to test your knowledge
      1. Question 1 – Record type capabilities
      2. Question 2 – Record types and standard fields
      3. Question 3 – Formula field data types
      4. Question 4 – Roll-Up Summary field functions
      5. Question 5 – Roll-Up Summary field capabilities
      6. Question 6 – Validation rule capabilities
      7. Answer 1 – Record type capabilities
      8. Answer 2 – Record types and standard fields
      9. Answer 3 – Formula field data types
      10. Answer 4 – Roll-Up Summary field functions
      11. Answer 5 – Roll-Up Summary field capabilities
      12. Answer 6 – Validation rule capabilities
    6. Summary
  16. Chapter 7: Building Business Process Automation
    1. Exam objectives: Business Logic and Process Automation
    2. Assessing the capabilities of process automation in the Lightning Platform
      1. Understanding the types of process automation
      2. Using Workflow to build process automation
      3. Building process automation with Flow
      4. Implementing process automation with Process Builder
      5. Creating approval processes with approvals
      6. Considering limits for approvals, Workflow, Flow, and Process Builder
    3. Understanding the use cases for approvals, Workflow, Flow, and Process Builder
      1. Use cases for approvals
      2. Use cases for Workflow
      3. Use cases for Flow
      4. Use cases for Process Builder
      5. Comparing Workflow, Flow, and Process Builder features
      6. Comparing Workflow, Flow, and Process Builder actions
    4. Translating business requirements into process automation solutions
      1. Creating an automation process using Workflow
      2. Implementing automation processes using Flow
      3. Configuring automation processes using Process Builder
    5. Understanding the implications of auto-updating fields
      1. Understanding the re-evaluation of workflow rules
      2. Considering the non-deterministic nature of Workflow
    6. Questions to test your knowledge
      1. Question 1 – Automating business processes
      2. Question 2 – Workflow capabilities
      3. Question 3 – Flow capabilities
      4. Question 4 – Process Builder capabilities
      5. Question 5 – Recommending a solution for a business requirement
      6. Question 6 – Re-evaluation of workflow rules
      7. Answer 1 – Automating business processes
      8. Answer 2 – Workflow capabilities
      9. Answer 3 – Flow capabilities
      10. Answer 4 – Process Builder capabilities
      11. Answer 5 – Recommending a solution for a business requirement
      12. Answer 6 – Re-evaluation of workflow rules
    7. Summary
  17. Chapter 8: Generating Data Analytics with Reports and Dashboards
    1. Exam objectives – Reporting
    2. Understanding Salesforce data analytics options
      1. Data analytics features in the Lightning Platform
      2. Other data analytics options by Salesforce
    3. Creating reports in the Lightning Platform
      1. Creating reports using the Lightning report builder
      2. Implementing Lightning reports
      3. Considering limits and allocations for reporting
    4. Configuring custom report types
    5. Building dashboards in the Lightning Platform
      1. Considering limits and allocations for dashboards
    6. Questions to test your knowledge
      1. Question 1 – Reports in the Lightning Platform
      2. Question 2 – Custom record type capabilities
      3. Question 3 – Dashboard capabilities
      4. Answer 1 – Reports in the Lightning Platform
      5. Answer 2 – Custom record type capabilities
      6. Answer 3 – Dashboard capabilities
    7. Summary
  18. Section 3: A Step Closer to the Exam
  19. Chapter 9: Configuring the Mobile Features
    1. Exam objectives – Mobile apps
    2. Installing the Salesforce Mobile App
      1. Supported mobile devices for the Salesforce Mobile App
      2. Setting up the Salesforce Mobile App
    3. Configuring the Salesforce mobile application user interface
      1. Customizing a Lightning app navigation menu in the Salesforce mobile app
      2. Customizing the Mobile Only default navigation menu in the Salesforce Mobile App
      3. Mobile app branding
    4. Building global and object-specific actions and action layouts
      1. Creating global quick actions
      2. Configuring object-specific actions
    5. Questions to test your knowledge
      1. Question 1 – Mobile Only default navigation menu
      2. Question 2 – Mobile app branding
      3. Question 3 – Mobile quick actions
      4. Answer 1 – Mobile Only default navigation menu
      5. Answer 2 – Mobile app branding
      6. Answer 3 – Mobile quick actions
    6. Summary
  20. Chapter 10: Understanding the Social Features
    1. Exam objectives – Social features
    2. Setting up social accounts, leads, and contacts
    3. Configuring social features by users
    4. Linking accounts, leads, and contacts to social networks
      1. Signing into and authorizing access to social networking accounts
      2. Linking accounts to social networks
      3. Linking leads and contacts to social networks
    5. Questions to test your knowledge
      1. Question 1 – Capabilities of and use cases for social features
      2. Question 2 – Linking Salesforce records to social networks
      3. Answer 1 – Capabilities of and use cases for social features
      4. Answer 2 – Linking Salesforce records to social networks
    6. Summary
  21. Chapter 11: Managing the App Building Process
    1. Exam objectives: App Development
    2. Managing the application life cycle
      1. Step 1 – Plan release
      2. Step 2 – Developing
      3. Step 3 – Testing
      4. Step 4 – Build release
      5. Step 5 – Test release
      6. Step 6 – Release
    3. Understanding the types of sandboxes
    4. Using change sets for app deployment
    5. Identifying the options for using unmanaged packages
    6. Determining deployment options for given scenarios
    7. Questions to test your knowledge
      1. Question 1 – ALM
      2. Question 2 – The plan release step
      3. Question 3 – Sandboxes
      4. Question 4 – Change sets
      5. Question 5 – Change sets – sequence of events
      6. Answer 1 – ALM
      7. Answer 2 – The plan release step
      8. Answer 3 – Sandboxes
      9. Answer 4 – Change sets
      10. Answer 5 – Change sets – sequence of events
    8. Summary
  22. Chapter 12: Studying for the Certified Platform App Builder Exam
    1. Using the Platform App Builder exam study guide
    2. Understanding the format of the exam
    3. Carrying out a self-assessment for the exam
    4. Identifying resources available for studying
      1. Signing up for classroom-based and online training courses
      2. Creating a free personal Developer Edition org
      3. Learning with Trailhead
      4. Accessing official online and social networking channels
      5. Using third-party study resources
    5. Registering for the exam
      1. Booking the exam
      2. Rescheduling the exam
    6. Taking and passing the exam
      1. During the exam
      2. After the exam
    7. Summary
  23. Other Books You May Enjoy
    1. Leave a review - let other readers know what you think

Product information

  • Title: Salesforce Platform App Builder Certification Guide
  • Author(s): Paul Goodey
  • Release date: November 2020
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781800206434