Heroku - 15 Intro Salesforce part 2
Before we jump into the integrations between Salesforce and Heroku, we need a quick tour of Salesforce itself: how it works, and how to use it. The very first thing to decide is which type of organization to use for this course. If you sign up on the Salesforce website you can create a normal Salesforce org, but it will be a trial account with strict limits — many of the integration features used in this course will simply not be available.
Use a Developer Sandbox
The better option is a Developer Sandbox. Developer Sandboxes are designed to let developers experiment freely with Salesforce, with no feature limitation, and they include everything we need for the course. The equivalent on a paid sandbox would cost about $200 per year, but the Developer Sandbox is free. To get one, head to developer.salesforce.com and create an account by filling in the signup form. Salesforce will send a confirmation email, and after activation you can log into your developer account.
Salesforce objects (tables) you must know
The key concept in Salesforce is the object, which is essentially a table you use to manage your business. Three standard objects matter for our integration story:
- Account — used to keep track of every account that exists in your organization. For a bank, the Account object would hold every customer, which is typical for customer management.
- Case — used when a customer wants to communicate with your organization. If you expose a portal or a website where customers reach out, every incoming request can create a new Case, which someone in your team then picks up and handles.
- Lead — used to keep information about potential future clients. You can assign someone to study leads in order to qualify and convert them into actual customers.
Salesforce ships with many additional features around code and automation, but these three objects (and the rest of the standard ones) are what really matters for us: everything inside Salesforce is stored in tables / objects. Therefore, integrating Salesforce with Heroku essentially comes down to sending the data stored in these objects across to Heroku, in real time or in batches, depending on the integration solution chosen — which is what we will start exploring in the next videos.
Summary
This lesson introduces Salesforce fundamentals for developers integrating with Heroku. It covers the differences between trial organizations and developer sandboxes, explains how to create a free developer account at developer.salesforce.com, and details three essential Salesforce objects: Account (for managing clients and businesses), Case (for handling customer communications), and Lead (for tracking potential clients). The lesson emphasizes that these objects store all data needed for Heroku integrations.
Key points
- Developer sandboxes provide unlimited features free of charge, unlike trial accounts which are limited and costly (~$200/year for normal sandboxes)
- Account objects manage client and business data; Case objects handle customer communications and support tickets; Lead objects track potential customers for sales conversion
- All Salesforce data is stored within objects—the tables are the foundation for integrating Salesforce with Heroku applications
- Create a free developer account at developer.salesforce.com to access full Salesforce functionality without limitations
- Understanding Salesforce objects is critical before implementing integration features with Heroku
FAQ
What is the difference between a Salesforce trial account and a developer sandbox?
A trial account is limited in functionality and features, making it unsuitable for integration work. A developer sandbox is free, provides unlimited features for developers, and is the recommended starting point for learning Salesforce integration with Heroku.
What are the three main Salesforce objects introduced in this lesson?
Account (for managing clients and business data), Case (for customer communications and support), and Lead (for tracking potential clients during the sales process).
Why are Salesforce objects important for Heroku integration?
Objects contain all Salesforce data. To integrate Salesforce with Heroku, you must send data stored in these objects between the systems—they are the data foundation of the integration.