By Gaurav Gupta
When Salesforce launched 15 years ago, we didn’t yet know that it would become one of the world’s most innovative and popular CRM systems. Due to its popularity and demand, many people are aligning their career to Salesforce. There are many resources out there for people who want to break into the Salesforce world. Here is our list of the top 11 resources that can help you get started and become a successful developer:
Free developer account
Salesforce provides a free, full-featured copy of the platform to give you a feel of how Salesforce development works. It lets you play around with various features of Salesforce. It is the first thing you should have before moving on along the Salesforce learning path.
Trailhead
Trailhead is an interactive learning path for Salesforce developers, admins, and users. Various modules have been designed to take you through a step-by-step approach to learn Salesforce. You can also test your knowledge while earning points and badges as rewards.
Force.com Platform Fundamentals
This book helps you understand how to build your own custom application on the cloud. The declarative approach of development is a major focus in this book.
Developer workbooks
Salesforce has provided a bunch of workbooks that consist of tutorials, with each tutorial introducing a new concept. This is a great way for newbies in Salesforce to get started and build useful applications.
Developer library
The developer library consists of all the documentation, books, cheat sheets, and so on that developers can use for quick reference.
CodeTalk Live
This is new pilot program for developers to get their technical queries resolved on pre-selected Salesforce topics. It’s a live and unscripted Q&A session hosted online by Salesforce.
Featured content
Here you have all webinars and articles featured over the past few years on the Developer Force home page. This is another quick reference for those new to Salesforce.
User groups
Find a local user group to meet Salesforce enthusiasts online and in person. This is a great way to learn and talk about Salesforce in groups. You can also use meetup.com to find such groups.
Online forums
Look out for various online communities on LinkedIn, Salesforce, and even Facebook to discuss a variety of Salesforce-related topics in just few clicks.
YouTube videos by Salesforce
There are thousands of Salesforce videos by experts for people who are aspiring to become a developer. There may come a time when you might not find a solution anywhere else and these videos may hold the key.
Salesforce developer certification
Just like a degree, Salesforce certification is a way to show your Force.com platform knowledge. Certification adds an extra point in your profile to demonstrate to employers that you have what it takes to become a successful Salesforce developer.
