Salesforce glossary
Key Salesforce certification terms and acronyms.
Definitions are AI-assisted and reviewed for general accuracy — verify critical details against Salesforce's official documentation.
Apex
Salesforce's proprietary, Java-like programming language used to write custom business logic executed on the platform.
Apex
Salesforce's proprietary, strongly typed, object-oriented programming language that executes on the Force.com platform server side.
App
A collection of tabs, objects, reports, and other components assembled to support a specific business function.
AuraAura Component Framework
Salesforce's older client-side JavaScript framework for building dynamic Lightning components, now superseded in preference by LWC.
Batch Apex
An asynchronous Apex interface (Database.Batchable) that processes large data sets in configurable chunks to avoid governor limits.
Bulkification
The practice of writing Apex code to handle collections of records at once rather than processing records individually, to respect governor limits.
Callout
An Apex HTTP or web service request made to an external endpoint from within a Salesforce transaction.
Change Set
A deployment container used to move metadata components from one Salesforce org to another connected org.
CRMCustomer Relationship Management
A strategy and software category for managing a company's interactions with current and potential customers.
Custom MetadataCustom Metadata Types
A Salesforce configuration framework that stores application metadata as deployable, packageable records accessible in Apex and formulas.
Custom Settings
A Salesforce feature for storing custom data sets that can be accessed at the org, profile, or user level via Apex or formulas.
Dashboard
A visual display of report data using charts and metrics, providing a real-time snapshot of business performance.
Data Loader
A client application used to import, export, update, upsert, or delete large volumes of Salesforce records via CSV.
DMLData Manipulation Language
Apex statements (insert, update, upsert, delete, undelete, merge) used to create, modify, or remove Salesforce records.
Field
A single data element on an object record, analogous to a column in a database table.
Flow
Salesforce's primary declarative automation tool for building complex business processes with screens, logic, and actions.
Future Method
An Apex method annotated with @future that runs asynchronously in a separate thread, useful for callouts or long-running operations.
Governor Limits
Runtime limits enforced by the Salesforce multitenant platform to prevent any single transaction from monopolizing shared resources.
Lightning Experience
The modern Salesforce user interface framework that replaced the classic interface, offering improved navigation and components.
Lookup Relationship
A loosely coupled link between two objects where the child record can exist independently of the parent.
LWCLightning Web Components
A Salesforce UI framework based on modern web standards (HTML, JavaScript, CSS) for building performant components on the platform.
Master-Detail
A tightly coupled relationship between objects where the detail record's ownership and sharing are controlled by the master.
MFAMulti-Factor Authentication
A security mechanism requiring users to verify identity with two or more factors before accessing Salesforce.
MVCCModel-View-Controller
A design pattern separating data (Model), UI (View), and business logic (Controller), used in Visualforce page development.
Object
A database table in Salesforce that stores a specific type of information, either standard or custom.
OWDOrganization-Wide Defaults
Baseline sharing settings that define the default level of access users have to each other's records.
Page Layout
A configuration that controls the arrangement of fields, buttons, related lists, and components on a record detail page.
Permission Set
A configuration that grants additional permissions to specific users without changing their base profile.
Process Builder
A point-and-click automation tool that triggers actions based on record changes; largely superseded by Flow.
Profile
A collection of settings and permissions that controls what a user can see and do within Salesforce.
Queueable
An Apex interface that allows jobs to be chained, accept non-primitive types, and be monitored via AsyncApexJob in the queue.
Record Type
A configuration that allows different picklist values, page layouts, and business processes for the same object.
Report
A set of records displayed in rows and columns that meets defined filter criteria, used for data analysis.
REST APIRepresentational State Transfer Application Programming Interface
Salesforce's HTTP-based API that allows external systems to perform CRUD operations on records using JSON or XML.
Role Hierarchy
A record-access framework that grants users visibility into records owned by users below them in the hierarchy.
Sandbox
An isolated copy of a Salesforce org used for development, testing, or training without affecting production data.
Sandbox
An isolated Salesforce environment copied or created from a production org, used for development, testing, and staging purposes.
Schedulable
An Apex interface that allows a class to be scheduled to run at a specified time using a cron expression in Salesforce.
Schema
The Apex namespace providing classes and methods to dynamically describe sObject types, fields, and relationships at runtime.
Sharing Rule
A configuration that extends record access to users or groups beyond what OWD settings allow.
SOAP APISimple Object Access Protocol Application Programming Interface
Salesforce's XML-based web service API used for integrations that require strict contracts and enterprise-level security.
sObjectSalesforce Object
A generic Apex data type that represents any standard or custom Salesforce database object and its fields.
SOQLSalesforce Object Query Language
A query language used to retrieve records from the Salesforce database, similar in syntax to SQL but limited to SELECT operations.
SOSLSalesforce Object Search Language
A search language that performs text-based searches across multiple Salesforce objects and fields simultaneously.
Test Class
An Apex class annotated with @isTest that contains unit tests; at least 75% code coverage is required to deploy to production.
Trigger
An Apex code block that executes automatically before or after specific DML events on a Salesforce object.
Validation Rule
A formula-based rule that prevents a record from being saved if specified data conditions are not met.
VFVisualforce
A tag-based markup language that allows developers to build custom UI pages and components hosted on the Salesforce platform.
Workflow Rule
An automated rule that triggers one or more actions when a record meets specified criteria.
WSDLWeb Services Description Language
An XML-based file that describes the endpoints, operations, and data types of a Salesforce SOAP web service.