Heroku - 15 Intro Salesforce partie 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, explaining how to set up a free developer sandbox instead of a limited trial account. It covers the key Salesforce objects—Account, Case, and Lead—that store business data and why understanding these structures is essential before integrating Salesforce with Heroku.
Key points
- Salesforce developer sandboxes are free and offer full functionality, unlike trial accounts which are limited
- To create a developer sandbox, register at /developer.salesforce.com by completing a form and confirming your email
- Account objects manage customer information, Case objects handle customer communications and support tickets, and Lead objects track potential future customers
- All Salesforce data is stored within these objects, which will be the data sources when integrating with Heroku
- Developer sandboxes have no feature limitations and cost nothing, whereas normal sandboxes cost approximately $200 per year
FAQ
What is the difference between a Salesforce trial account and a developer sandbox?
A trial account has significant feature limitations, while a developer sandbox provides full functionality at no cost, making it ideal for development and learning.
How do you create a Salesforce developer sandbox?
Visit /developer.salesforce.com, fill out the registration form, and Salesforce will send a confirmation email to activate your account.
Why are Salesforce objects important for Heroku integration?
Objects like Account, Case, and Lead store all Salesforce business data. When integrating Salesforce with Heroku, you will be exchanging and synchronizing data stored within these objects.