Chapter 11. Apex and Data

In the previous chapter, you were introduced to Apex code. That introduction familiarized you with the basics of syntax and implementation, including using the Force Platform IDE and the use of test methods.

You developed Apex classes in that chapter, but Apex is frequently used in conjunction with data and data changes in your Force Platform application. This chapter focuses on using Apex with your data—in triggers, fired by changes in your data, in the use of SOQL and SOSL to retrieve data from your Force Platform organization, and using the Force Platform data manipulation language (DML) to write data back to your Force Platform objects.

You will also learn techniques for working with data in bulk, giving you complete flexibility in accessing large amounts of data in a way that delivers optimal performance.

Important

If you have been following the examples in the previous chapter, your Force Platform organization should be ready for the exercises in this chapter. If you have not done the exercises, or want to start with a fresh version of the sample Recruiting application, please refer to the instructions in the Code Share project for this book. You can find information on how to access that project in Chapter 1: Welcome to the Force Platform. In addition, the project contains instructions on how to update your organization with changes required for this chapter.