Pragmatic Bears’ Way
I’m interested in learning how Salesforce Developers work and how they stay on top of new developments in the ecosystem. Where do you go for information? Do you read books or blogs, follow online courses? Do you get your knowledge from or share yours with others? How?
I think this sort of information may be very useful to others who may be looking for inspiration or more channels to follow.
Intro
My name is Aleš. I started my Salesforce career with a UK based partner when I lived in Scotland in 2012. One year I spent working only periodically and remotely while travelling and then in 2015 I moved back to Czech Republic. For 7 years I continued working with Salesforce partners on various customer projects until I started contracting directly about 1 year ago.
My primary role has always been that of a Developer. I succeeded at not becoming a manager or architect as I gained experience. Something I’m very happy about.
Books
Which “professional” books have you read that you liked or would recommend others to read. Great if they are Salesforce (Developer) related but they don’t necessarily have to be.
I haven’t read many to be honest. Enjoyed Head First Design Patterns as quite a good introduction back in the day. Of course The Pragmatic Programmer is the big one. I only read it relatively recently when the new edition came out. And it resonated with me as much as I thought it would.
Looking at Salesforce specific Books I’m currently getting through the Enterprise Patterns, going in and out as I need. Before that I read Mastering Salesforce DevOps and I would again.
Courses & Events
Did you follow any online (or in person) courses? Are there any that you would recommend? Do you participate in Meetups or organised User Groups?
I used to have a Pluralsight subscription and I did complete a couple of courses on it. Specifically on Git. I’ve never really followed a full course on Salesforce Development. Can’t seem to stick to it, the format is not for me I guess. When time came to renew the subscriptions I didn’t.
There’s not been many in person events lately but I do try to attend whenever possible. Like Czech Dreamin’ for instance. I did get to go to a Salesforce Architect bootcamp in Barcelona a couple of years back and it was extremely useful.
I haven’t yet presented anything myself but I would like to sometime. I think that is a great way to learn too.
Blogs
Give a shout out to any (Salesforce) Blogs that you follow or are fan of. You don’t need to be a regular reader, maybe even just one post that may have got your attention.
Joys of Apex is probably standing out for me the most at the moment. I also always pay attention to Bob Buzzard Blog. The Salesforce Developer blog is a must but there’s a lot there so I’m quite selective with what I read. Then I very much enjoyed some posts on Andy in the Cloud and Nebula Consulting.
Generally I try to look for those that go a lot further than the very basic hints. And avoid those that just repost Salesforce docs or PR briefs about new features.
Socials
Do you use Social Media for your work or personal development? Which ones, how and why? Any creators that you would recommend others follow/check out?
I use Twitter a lot to find hints and inspiration. I’m not very good at reading Release notes and Twitter seems to be great to spot the important news. I tried to mix up Salesforce specific people with developers and engineers focusing on other technologies. It’s a bit of a Javascript and Machine Learning bubble though so I’m in the process of refocusing. I like to sometimes pick someone who posts really interesting stuff and go through the list of people they follow.
Some of my favourites right now are:
- Robert Sösemann – https://twitter.com/rsoesemann
- Johan Furmann – https://twitter.com/fliack
- Lou Creemers – https://twitter.com/lovelacecoding
LinkedIn is also great but I find I need to scroll a bit more to come across something relevant to coding. It’s to do with the nature of my connections where like half of them are recruiters. I’m working on improving my feed there, but it’s not as useful yet.
I also get a kick from TikTok. Mostly recipes and health advice, but VS Code has a fun channel.
Forums and Discussion Channels
Where do you look for help or answers to problems you can’t solve yourself? Do you spend time answering other peoples’ questions? Where?
Salesforce Stack Exchange is definitely the best to find detailed answers. I’ve tried to get on the Trailblazer forums, but It’s not stuck with me.
I don’t work in an office with other Salesforce Developers any more. It’s great sometimes to be able to just speak up and get instant help or bounce ideas off people. I’m trying to replace that with some “instant” forums (with limited success so far, but not none). Currently I’m on the SFXD Discord and SalesforceBreak Slack.
GitHub
Do you use GitHub as a social platform? Or maybe follow some open-source repos that are interesting and relevant?
I used the data import capabilities of Texeï’s plugin for sfdx with success. And this one I got to know though my current team: SObject Fabricator.
IDE and Extensions
What’s your setup? Specifically when doing Salesforce Development work. Any features or extensions you would recommend.
I use VS Code. I think it’s perfect. Simple and effective. Theme: Monokai (Dark). I have the sidebar on the right and I moved the Source Control widget to the bottom dock (for extra width on the file paths)
Extensions-wise I don’t think I use anything all that special. Can’t live without GitGraph, Prettier and Apex PMD of course. Then GitLens and Apex Log Analyzer.
Something maybe not as obvious but very very useful is Salesforce Reference which helps you quickly open the Apex Docs on the right page. Then Apex Assist. I don’t really use it for the Syntax checking, but the Dependency Graph feature is super cool.
Other Tools
Any other software that you can’t do without?
I paid for Organizer, even though I only use the SObject Query, Dev Console quick link, Login As and Tab Colour features. It does a lot more but even those few things help me every day. Beyond Compare was with me through a lot, though I’ve not needed it much recently (good! those tasks aren’t usually fun).
Tabs of Spaces
For a bit of light entertainment, my favourite “controversial” topic. What’s your preference? Do you care? I love to pretend to care more than I do, though I am genuinely looking for someone to convince me my choice is wrong.
Tab… of course. No one yet managed to convince me otherwise. Though this TikTok got close.