🎵 Just a .NET dev coding in Salesforce org 🎵

Good morning, Salesforce Nerds! As ubiquitous as Microsoft is in business, why would someone choose to pivot from .NET to Salesforce development? Wouldn't it seem like you'd be limiting your employment options by moving into a development niche such as Salesforce? Maybe ... but the companies that have invested in Salesforce need good engineers and some are willing to pay top dollar for them. Read on and see how I've increased my salary by 135% in 5 years in my move to Salesforce!

Agenda for today includes

• .NET vs Salesforce

• A simple roadmap

• Daily Principle

• All the Memes

Also, as you have probably noticed by now, Tuesday is the technical newsletter where the developer side of Salesforce is covered!

.NET vs Salesforce

My opinion on this is that Apex is just close enough to C# to piss me off. Syntactically, the languages are very similar. Both based on Java w/ similar constructs and adherence to OOP principles, but both difference in nuanced ways that are sure to cause frustration in the beginning. Here are just a few of these imposter-syndrome-inducing differences:

• Governor Limits - This was a big one for me. What do you mean I can fetch more than 50k rows in my query? How am I going to write this database maintenance job? Oh, Batch Apex! Got it! Wait, wth is a QueryLocator?? This is JUST ONE example of a limit that had me frustrated in the beginning.

• SOQL - Oh sweet, this looks like SQL. Not so fast! SOQL is Salesforce's proprietary query language. No JOIN, no * operator, queries regulated by the platforms governor limits? Take some time to dig into this. It can make or break your transition!

• Architecture - Think Separation of Concerns here. My .NET solutions were made up different projects that each represented their specific purpose (Persistence, Data Access, Business Logic, UI, etc.). The code base you work with in Salesforce will resemble a monolithic code base, you'll need to create these separations yourself within the org itself. Doable, but different.

• So much more - There's a lot. A lot of differences & similarities. My recommendation is to move to the next section, spin up a Trailhead account & get going with some hands-on stuff. Grab a pillow for your desk. That way when you want to bang your head against something you'll have a nice, soft surface. But just think ... could you use a 135% raise?!?

A Simple Roadmap

Everyone's path is different, but these are the steps I followed to overcome all hurdles and become an in-demand Salesforce engineer/architect:

• Start with Trailhead - There are dev TONS of resources here. It's free, fun and easy to play with. Here's a module specifically for this topic!

• Earn a Superbadge or two - Superbadges are larger, more difficult badges available on Trailhead. They'll require more time, effort, and discipline to complete.

• Get certified - Salesforce offers lots of certification paths - including a dev path. I highly recommend Platform App Builder, Platform Developer I, Platform Developer II.

• Update that resume/LinkedIn profile - Find some job descriptions you like and tailor your profile towards it.

• Job Search time - Try a recruiter (Mason Frank specializes in Salesforce recruitment) or do your own thing on LinkedIn.

• Get ready for an onslaught - It's not unusual for me to have 3 or 4 recruiters hit me up weekly. Be picky.

Daily Principle

Growth is the only measure of success. Your curiosity drives growth. Seek growth and never stop learning. Seek one percent growth every day.

and now....Your Daily Memes