Cloud computing has revolutionized the way businesses operate by providing on-demand access to computing resources over the internet. One of the leading cloud platforms is Salesforce, which offers both software-as-a-service (SaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) capabilities. In this blog, we’ll explore how Salesforce enables rapid development and deployment of custom business applications in the cloud.
Overview of Cloud Computing and Salesforce
Cloud computing refers to the delivery of computing services like servers, storage, databases, networking and software over the internet. The cloud provides several advantages over traditional on-premise infrastructure:
- Cost savings since you only pay for what you use
- Flexibility to scale up or down based on demand
- High availability and reliability of cloud provider infrastructure
- Faster deployment without lengthy hardware procurement cycles
Salesforce is one of the earliest and most successful cloud computing companies. Its initial offering Salesforce.com provided cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software. This allowed salesforce development companies to access CRM applications that were constantly updated without having to maintain infrastructure.
Salesforce has since expanded into a full cloud platform for rapidly building and delivering business applications. This platform-as-a-service (PaaS) is called Force.com. The key components of Force.com include:
- Apex – a proprietary programming language similar to Java for developing custom logic and accessing data
- Visualforce – a web development framework for building user interfaces
- Lightning components – prebuilt UI components that can be configured for apps
- Heroku – a cloud platform for hosting web apps built on Force.com
Together, these capabilities allow developers to quickly build and iterate on custom apps for sales, marketing, service and more. The apps are natively cloud-based so they can leverage Salesforce’s enterprise-grade infrastructure and elastic scalability.
Benefits of Building Apps on Salesforce
There are several advantages to building business applications on the Salesforce platform:
Rapid deployment and iteration – With declarative tools like Visualforce and Lightning, building an initial application can be done very quickly without coding. And frameworks like Apex allow faster iterations compared to traditional software development.
Built-in integrations – Salesforce apps have out-of-the-box integration with Salesforce CRM and other business systems. This eliminates the need for complex integration tasks during app development.
Cross-platform accessibility – Apps built on Salesforce are accessible on any device from desktop to mobile. Custom UI components can be built once and deployed across platforms.
Scalability and reliability – Salesforce handles infrastructure, security, availability and scalability requirements so developers can focus on app functionality. The multi-tenant platform allows apps to scale seamlessly.
AppExchange ecosystem – Developers can easily distribute Salesforce apps on AppExchange, Salesforce’s marketplace for cloud apps. Apps can also leverage capabilities from AppExchange components.
Focus on usability – Salesforce’s UI frameworks like Lightning emphasize usability and responsive design. This allows business users to rapidly adopt new apps.
By leveraging these advantages, companies can bring new apps and innovations to market faster on Salesforce compared to traditional software development.
Developing Apps on Force.com
Force.com provides multiple options for implementing business logic and UI components for custom apps:
Apex and Visualforce
Apex is a Java-like programming language that allows developers to implement server-side logic for Salesforce apps. It enables data access, complex logic and integration across the Salesforce platform. Apex can be invoked from UI actions, API calls or triggers.
Visualforce provides a framework for building UIs using a markup language similar to HTML. It enables declarative UI development by associating Visualforce markup components with Apex controllers.
Together, Apex and Visualforce allow fully custom apps to be developed on Force.com. Apps can integrate tightly with Salesforce CRM data using relationships and workflows defined in Apex code. Visualforce can incorporate Lightning components for responsive UI design.
Lightning App Builder
Lightning App Builder is a point-and-click tool for creating apps. It allows components like forms, lists and tabs to be dragged and configured into an app UI visually without coding. The resulting apps can leverage standard and custom Salesforce objects and fields without requiring Apex or Visualforce expertise.
App Builder speeds up development for simpler use cases like data entry and workflow apps. It uses the same underlying Lightning component framework that can be extended programmatically if needed. Apps can also embed Visualforce pages or Apex logic as required.
Lightning Components and Experience Builder
Lightning components enable UI development using JavaScript and an Angular-like component framework. Components encapsulate markup, styles and controllers for reusable UI elements. They can be used standalone or within the Lightning App Builder.
Salesforce Experience Builder allows Lightning components to be visually assembled into app pages along with standard UI elements like navigation and menus. This enables pixel-perfect application design without deep developer skills.
Lightning components combined with Experience Builder is suited for developing sophisticated, customized user experiences across desktop and mobile. The components allow complex front-end logic while easily integrating backend data and actions via Apex.
Heroku
The Heroku platform lets developers host web apps written in languages like Node.js, Java, PHP and Python. It provides production infrastructure for web/mobile backends that can integrate with Salesforce apps via APIs.
By leveraging Heroku in addition to Force.com, apps with intensive server-side processing or third-party integrations can be built while still fully integrating with Salesforce data and identities. Heroku and Force.com apps can share common logins and data sources.
Example: Custom Ticketing App for Metro
To demonstrate Salesforce’s capabilities for rapid app development, let’s outline a hypothetical ticketing app for a metro rail service. Key requirements for the app are:
- Allow riders to register, view upcoming trips and purchase tickets
- Send confirmation emails upon ticket purchase
- Provide QR code on mobile for ticket validation
- Capture rider usage data and feedback
The app will leverage custom Apex logic and Visualforce pages along with standard Salesforce objects, Lightning components and Heroku.
Data Model
Custom Salesforce objects will be used to store core app data:
- Rider – Registered app users with contact info
- Trip – Available trips with origin, destination and timings
- Ticket – Instances of purchased tickets by a rider for a trip
- Station – Metro stations mapped to trips
Relationships will connect Riders to their Tickets and Trips to Stations. Standard Salesforce objects like Tasks and EmailTemplates will track rider communication.
Apex Logic and Visualforce Pages
Apex code will implement key app functionality:
- Rider registration and authentication
- Trip schedules and station data
- Ticket availability and pricing
- Purchasing and validating tickets
- Sending confirmations via email and SMS
Visualforce will generate UI pages for riders to register, view upcoming trips, select a trip to book, enter payment and view tickets. Forms will invoke Apex methods on submit to process data.
Lightning Components
Reusable Lightning components will be used for parts of the UI:
- Trip search / selection component for rider ticket booking flow
- Ticket display component to show QR code and status
- Station map component displaying trip stations on route map
These components will encapsulate styling, markup and client-side logic for embedding across multiple Visualforce pages.
Heroku Web App
A Node.js web app on Heroku will handle:
- Payment processing via third-party API
- Generating QR ticket codes
- Push notifications to rider mobile apps
The Heroku app provides the advantage of robust, scalable processing in JavaScript. It interacts with Salesforce via APIs to get trip data and process ticket purchases.
By splitting functions across Force.com and Heroku, the app is built using the best tools for each task. Tight integration is maintained between the platforms for a seamless rider experience.
Conclusion
In this blog, we explored the Salesforce platform’s extensive capabilities for rapidly developing cloud-native apps for any business need. By combining declarative tools like Lightning App Builder with programmatic options like Apex and Visualforce, Salesforce allows both simple and sophisticated apps to be built quickly and iterated on.
The benefits of true cloud apps like ubiquitous access, seamless scalability and painless maintenance are baked into any app created on Force.com. Leveraging Heroku in conjunction with Force.com also enables apps with more advanced backend needs.
Salesforce provides the missing link between business requirements and software development. With its tools and frameworks tailored for the enterprise, common pain points like integration, security and cross-platform support are solved out of the box. Companies can focus purely on delivering apps that solve specific business problems and provide strategic value.
So in summary, if you’re looking to rapidly transform productivity with custom-built cloud apps, Salesforce provides an enterprise-ready platform to make that vision a reality. The high productivity and low risk model has made it a leader in enabling organizations to digitally transform through innovative business applications.