💃 The Salesforce Monolith 🕺

Good morning, Salesforce Nerds!

If you’re like us, you ❤️ Salesforce. The platform promises agility, scalability, and customer delight.

But somewhere between "clicks, not code" and "let’s just build this quick feature," your Salesforce org has turned into what developers affectionately (or not) call The Monolith.

If you’ve ever uttered the words, “We can’t refactor that - it’s too interconnected,” this one’s for you. 🫵 

Let’s take stroll through some of the common pitfalls that can cause your pristine Salesforce org to descend into a spaghetti-like legacy system. 🍝 

And how you can fix it before it collapses under its own weight.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Salesforce Monolith

• The Makings of a Monolith

• Breaking Free From a Monolith

• Declare Technical Bankruptcy

• Takeaways

THE HAPPY SOUP

THE MAKINGS OF A MONOLITH

Every Salesforce org starts with the best intentions: a clean slate, scalable design, and promises of following best practices. ✨ 

But somewhere along the way, the shortcuts creep in.

A quick custom field here, an urgent Apex class there, and before you know it, your org starts resembling that messy drawer in your kitchen - full of things you can’t quite throw out but don’t know how to organize. 🤔 

Let’s unpack the most common habits that take your Salesforce implementation from streamlined to sprawling.

😶‍🌫️ God Objects and God Classes
If your Account or Opportunity object looks like it’s auditioning for the role of “Most Fields Ever Created,” congratulations - you’ve entered God Object territory.

Every new business need seems to add yet another field, and before you know it, your object has the structural integrity of a Jenga tower.

Similarly, your Apex code might contain God Classes that attempt to handle everything from validation to database queries to trigger logic. Why delegate when one class can do it all?

👿 Trigger Hell
“What’s the harm in adding one more trigger?” said every developer, ever. Fast-forward six months, and you’re debugging why two triggers on the same object are firing in an order that makes absolutely no sense.

Throw in recursive calls and hardcoded IDs, and you’ve got a perfect storm of chaos.

🔀 The “One Giant Flow” Problem
Flows are great - until someone decides to build a Flow so large it requires a loading screen to open in the editor.

This Frankenstein Flow handles approvals, automates emails, updates records, and probably does your taxes.

And when it breaks (because it will), good luck figuring out why.

🚫 Hardcoding: The Original Sin
Hardcoded IDs and URLs are the stuff of Salesforce horror stories. It works until it doesn’t - like when you refresh your sandbox or introduce a new integration.

Suddenly, you’re combing through hundreds of lines of code looking for rogue IDs that are breaking everything.

Just don’t.

🧰 Overreliance on Custom Code
If your team’s first instinct is “let’s write some Apex,” instead of exploring native features, congratulations!

You’ve officially ignored the declarative side of Salesforce.

The result? A codebase that grows faster than your technical debt repayments.

I WANT TO BREAK FREE

BREAKING FREE FROM A MONOLITH

The good news? 📰 

It doesn’t have to be this way. 🎉 

Here are strategies to help you modularize your org, reduce complexity, and achieve the scalability Salesforce promised.

🏗️ Embrace Trigger Frameworks
A well-designed trigger framework, like the one from Salesforce’s Trailhead or a popular open-source library, can save your sanity.

With a framework, you consolidate logic into handler classes, ensuring that only one trigger per object handles execution.

Bonus: no more unexpected recursion.

📦️ Modularize with Apex Services
Instead of creating monolithic classes, break functionality into reusable service classes.

Need to validate records? That’s a job for ValidationService.

Need to handle updates? Hello, UpdateService.

This approach makes your code easier to test, debug, and extend.

🧳 Leverage Managed Packages
Managed packages are like modular furniture for your Salesforce org.

Instead of reinventing the wheel, leverage packages for common needs like document generation, integrations, or CPQ.

A well-built managed package reduces custom code and centralizes functionality in a maintainable way.

🛠️ Use Declarative Tools Wisely
Not everything needs code! Tools like Flows, Validation Rules, and Process Builder (RIP, as Flows take over) can handle many business requirements.

Just remember the golden rule: keep it simple.

If your declarative solution feels like a Rube Goldberg machine, it’s time to rethink.

🧘 Governance Through Center of Excellence (CoE)
Establish a Center of Excellence to define org standards, enforce code reviews, and maintain documentation.

A CoE ensures that everyone - from admins to developers - is rowing in the same direction.

⚙️ Automate Tests and Deployments
A bloated org often lacks robust testing.

Write meaningful test classes, aim for 85%+ code coverage, and automate deployments with tools like Salesforce DX or CI/CD pipelines.

This way, you catch issues before they hit production.

YOU CAN’T JUST SAY IT

DECLARE TECHNICAL BANKRUPTCY

Sometimes, the best way to fix a monolith is to blow it up - metaphorically, of course. 💥 

If your org has reached a point where every change breaks three unrelated features, it may be time for a complete overhaul.

Use this as an opportunity to rethink architecture, consolidate redundant apps, and enforce best practices from the get-go. 💯 

Here are some telltale signs it might be time to press the reset button:

🪲 High Bug-to-Feature Ratio: For every new feature you deploy, several existing ones break, often in seemingly unrelated areas of the org.

😩 Change Fatigue: Simple configuration changes require extensive testing or debugging across the org, leaving your team hesitant to innovate.

🔄 Endless Spaghetti Code: Your Apex classes reference each other in a convoluted web of dependencies, making debugging or extending functionality a Herculean task.

🤞 Scalability Ceiling: Your org can’t keep up with the business’s growth, either due to bloated data models, sluggish performance, or over-engineered solutions.

PARTING THOUGHTS

TAKEAWAYS

The Salesforce Monolith is not inevitable. ⛔️ 

With thoughtful design, disciplined development, and a willingness to evolve, you can keep your org from sliding into legacy territory.

Remember: Salesforce is a powerful platform, but it’s only as good as the team managing it. 💪 

So the next time you’re tempted to add just “one more” field, class, or trigger, pause. Your future self - and every poor soul who inherits your org - will thank you. 🙌 

SOUL FOOD

Today’s Principle

and now....Salesforce Memes