Salesforce development is complex and challenging. With too many developers working on the platform, it is easy to lose track of changes, even with a version control system to help you. This can lead to overwritten changes, slower development cycles, numerous rollbacks, and inefficient team collaborations. It can also result in bugs in deployment and disrupted operations. You can address all these issues with a set of best practices to improve the efficiency of your version control control system. These best practices will help you streamline your DevOps processes, reduce risks, and improve team productivity, leading to faster and more efficient development cycles.
But what are these best practices? And how can your Salesforce DevOps teams use them?
Let's find out in this blog post.
What Is a Salesforce Version Control System?
A Salesforce Version Control System (VCS) is a system to help developers track, manage, and organize changes made to Salesforce metadata and code. It acts as a central repository for storing all modifications and enables better developer collaboration. A source control system also helps maintain code integrity and avoid overwriting each other's work.
There are two types of version control systems for Salesforce:
1. Integration with 3rd Party Tools (e.g., Git)
In this type of version control system, Salesforce developers use a third-party tool like Git.
Salesforce developers use tools like Git to track changes to their code and metadata. Here, the version control process involves the following:
Step #1: Retrieve the Salesforce components (Apex classes, Visualforce pages, etc.) as files
Step #2: Store them in a Git repository.
Step #3: Use Git commands to manage versions, branches, and merges.
Pros of a third-party VCS tool
Using Git as the version control system, Salesforce businesses can enjoy many benefits.
Here are a few benefits of using Git as a version control system:
- It is widely used and a mature VCS: Git is a popular and well-established version control system with a large community and extensive documentation.
- It is highly flexible: Git has a high degree of flexibility in branching strategies and workflows. It allows you to work on projects parallelly without any code overwrites.
- Integration with other tools: You can integrate Git with different development tools and platforms. This helps you build a comprehensive, efficient DevOps pipeline.
Cons of a third-party VCS tool
- Using Git for version control in Salesforce also comes with a set of limitations, as well.
- Here are a few of them:
- It is highly complex: Git is highly complex and has a steep learning curve, especially for developers who are new to version control.
- Technical expertise is needed: You must be tech-savvy to set up and maintain a Git repository for Salesforce development.
- Chances for conflicts: Merging changes from multiple developers in Git may require manual conflict resolution.
2. Native Salesforce Solutions
In this type of version control system, tools like Flosum, designed to work natively in Salesforce, are used. It offers a user-friendly interface for Salesforce developers to manage versions, deployments, and all other release management tasks in Salesforce.
Native tools like Flosum often integrate directly with Salesforce orgs and help developers to automate deployments, change tracking, and conflict resolution.
Pros of Salesforce-native VCS
Salesforce-native version control systems offer a range of benefits to Salesforce development.
Here are a few key benefits of using them:
- Ease of use: Native VCS solutions are easier to use than Git. This is especially helpful for developers who are unfamiliar with command-line interfaces.
- Salesforce-specific features: These tools provide a variety of custom features tailored to Salesforce development. Metadata dependency management and automated deployments are two excellent examples.
- Simplified workflows: Native solutions simplify the release management process. They achieve this by automating tasks and providing a centralized platform for managing change.
Cons of a Salesforce-native VCS
Despite offering diverse benefits and an easy-to-use interface, native VCS has limitations.
Here are a few of them to keep in mind.
- Vendor lock-in: Depending on a native solution can lead to vendor lock-in as you become dependent on that specific tool.
- Higher cost: Native solutions often come with a higher cost compared to free, open-source tools like Git.
- Limited flexibility: In terms of branching strategies and workflow, native solutions may not offer as much flexibility as Git.
Benefits of Version Control System in Salesforce
A version control system or source control helps salesforce developers and teams manage, track, and revisit changes you make to salesforce data and files. Let's discuss the most critical advantages of using a VCS in Salesforce DevOps.
- Version control allows multiple developers to work on the same project simultaneously. Using version control, Salesforce teams can track changes, avoid conflicts, and complete projects faster.
- A version control system makes it easy for teams to record every change and have a detailed history of modifications for higher transparency and accountability.
- A version control system is vital for rollback changes. If an update causes errors or unintended consequences, a VCS allows you to revert to a previous version without disrupting workflows.
- A version control system lets you easily manage and deploy updates across multiple Salesforce environments and reduces the chances of deployment failures.
Challenges of Version Control Systems in Salesforce
While the benefits of version control in Salesforce are plenty, it is not free from limitations. Here are a few challenges of adopting version control within the Salesforce ecosystem.
- Salesforce is notorious for its complex metadata dependencies, making it hard for Salesforce DevOps teams to track and manage changes.
- Salesforce's native change sets lack effective rollback options, forcing teams to look for third-party version control systems like Flosum.
- It is hard to trace the changes made, who made them, and why in Salesforce. This can lead to confusion, inefficiency, and data inconsistencies
Top 7 Salesforce Version Control Best Practices
Following these version control best practices helps you trace and manage changes more efficiently. You can adopt these best practices regardless of your team size. Let's explore each of these practices here.
1. Create consistent commit messages
Helpful and consistent commit messages are vital for efficient version control in any Salesforce development project. These messages explain the reasons behind each metadata change, leading to better code quality reviews and faster debugging.
Here are a few tips to create better commit messages in Salesforce:
- Add a brief explanation of what was changed in the metadata and why after a blank line.
- Use a clear subject line under 50 characters summarizing the metadata change.
- Reference-related issues or bug tickets and link code changes to tasks.
- Maintain consistent, team-aligned messaging in all commits.
- Use active voice and present tense for clarity and brevity.
2. Make small commits frequently
When working on any Salesforce development project, making small code commits frequently for metadata and Apex code changes is the best way. Create smaller commits instead of bundling a series of changes into a large commit.
Each commit should talk about one logical change--fixing a bug, refactoring a class, adding a field, etc. These frequent commits make revisions and changes faster and more efficient.
Here are a few more benefits of making small and frequent commits:
- Enables incremental commits for better visibility regardless of project complexity
- Simplifies debugging as it helps pinpoint the area of concern better.
- Decreases the chances of complex merge conflicts in the project.
- Helps avoid complex, lengthy commits that are hard to understand.
- Helps understand changes faster without complexities.
3. Pick the right branching strategy
Branching is essential to a successful version control workflow in the Salesforce platform. Your branching strategy must align with your team size, release timing, and the project complexity.
The right branching strategy also helps improve collaboration, as different admins and developers can work on different projects without conflicts. This also leads to fewer merge conflicts, enhanced code quality, and faster release.
However, picking the right branching strategy can be challenging. Here are a few methods to try:
- Git as a backup strategy
This is often the first step teams take when looking to version control their metadata. Here, there is one branch per environment, and metadata is pushed into the branch from their orgs with the help of a continuous integration job.
- Feature branching strategy
In this strategy, the latest metadata version is saved on the main branch and ready to be released as needed. This is often the only permanent, long-term branch. For example, if you need to add new features, you create and work on a new branch from the main branch. Once the work is done, you merge it back to the main branch.
- Protected master branching strategy
Although this strategy is similar to the feature branching strategy, it is different in that the protected master branch has a single long-lived branch used for integration before it is merged into the main branch. This means the main branch remains a protected source of truth, and only the changes thoroughly tested in UAT are permitted.
4. Use automation for Salesforce DevOps
Repetitive tasks can definitely slow down your Salesforce development and DevOps processes. However, automation is an effective way to address this concern. As you automate released processes, your developers will have more time to focus on solving complex problems instead of focusing on deployments alone.
Automation is also a vital part of continuous integration/continuous deployment workflow. There are several processes that Salesforce developers can automate:
- Processes for code style checking and linting
- Building and packaging code for deployment
- Tests for validating code integrity
- Processes for code reviews
- Code update deployments
The benefits of automating Salesforce DevOps are numerous:
- Automated deployments speed up project development.
- Address human errors and improve release process quality.
- Improve and mature CI/CD processes in Salesforce DevOps.
- Faster code reviews, bug detection, and continuous integration.
5. Merge code changes regularly
Whether you use a feature branching method or trunk-based development strategy, regularly merging code changes is vital for Salesforce development. Frequent merging helps you sync all the changes in the feature branch with the main branch, leading to an updated code base. It helps with faster code reviews to ensure better quality and compliance.
The biggest advantage of frequent code merging is that it helps uncover merge conflicts, and you can resolve them when they are small, manageable, and quick to identify. You can also review the source code faster and detect new bugs quickly to address them.
However, merging codes regularly requires thorough planning and strategy. Here are a few tips you can use to merge codes more efficiently and frequently.
- Create processes to help merge code changes regularly.
- If support is available, use pull requests for all types of code reviews.
- After merging codes, always test these codes in Salesforce sandboxes.
- Resolve all merge conflicts locally before pushing them to the main branch.
Regularly checking code changes helps bring all developers onto the same page regarding development. This helps better align teams, ensure faster delivery and code quality, and build a better version control strategy.
6. Carry out timely code reviews
Peer code reviews are a vital part of Salesforce version control. These reviews help find issues with codes early and improve the overall quality of the code. You can also understand all processes, standards, and conventions are followed consistently with the help of regular code reviews.
Code reviews also help you improve your team's knowledge and skill set, as you can share solutions to different challenges and make code more readable and manageable with iterative feedback. However, having a thorough strategy to carry out these code reviews is vital to drive the desired benefits.
Here are a few strategies to improve code review processes and quality:
- Review all pull requests as soon as you get them to avoid delays in progress.
- Use Salesforce DevOps tools for test automation and helping reviewers.
- Create checklists to track and review all the files with code changes.
At the end of the day, code reviews help Salesforce teams to ensure better collaboration, alignment of code styles, and bug removal for better end-user experience in Salesforce.
7. Create and implement branch protection
Setting up protections for the most vital branches is crucial to ensure the integrity and quality of the branch. These protections ensure that certain criteria must be met before any changes can be added to them.
You can do this in several ways:
- Ensuring mandatory reviews
- Automating code checks
- Resolving merge conflicts locally
Adding branch protection also helps ensure better collaboration and accountability while enabling teams to share practical advice, such as software development tips, test automation strategies, etc., with both Salesforce admins and teams.
Why Is Flosum One of the Best Salesforce Version Control Tools?
Implementing version control in Salesforce is inevitable for teams that use the platform for diverse software development projects. Recognizing this, Salesforce offers the opportunity to use third-party version control tools. A few of the best DevOps tools for Salesforce include Flosum, Gearset, Copado, etc.
Flosum stands out in this list, particularly for being the only Salesforce-native DevOps tool that works within Salesforce itself and offers extensive version control capabilities. Flosum helps Salesforce admins and teams alike by making it possible to manage DevOps right within the platform.
In addition, Flosum DevOps also offers the following advantages when it comes to version control:
- Flosum provides seamless compatibility with Salesforce and eliminates the need for third-party integrations or complex setup processes.
- Flosum handles all Salesforce metadata types effectively and helps developers track, compare, and manage changes at a granular level.
- Flosum has an intuitive interface for creating branches, managing changes, and merging them into production, which ensures better collaboration.
- You can also work better with each other in Salesforce with Flosum, thanks to its features for tracking code changes, assigning tasks in the platform, approval management with governance tools, etc.
- Flosum integrates version control with CI/CD workflows for faster release cycles and better quality, regardless of the project's complexity.
If you wish to see Flosum in action and how it can help you ensure efficient version control, request a free consultation and demo.
Frequently Asked Questions
1.Does Salesforce have versioning?
No, Salesforce does not have a native version control system. Businesses using Salesforce need tools like Flosum, Gearset, etc., for version control. Using third-party version control tools is an essential part of using Salesforce for most businesses.
2. What is the main purpose of version control?
The chief purpose of version control is to track, manage, and organize changes made to Salesforce code, files, and projects over time. Efficient version control allows for better collaboration and accountability, as well as the ability to roll back changes that do not align with the overall goals of the project, the platform, or the business.
3.Can I use Git with Flosum?
Yes, you can. Often, many businesses prefer to use Git for version control as they may have a long history of using it. They can continue to do this by integrating the preferred Git repository with Flosum. Integrating these two is straightforward with the managed package built by Flosum. You can also turn off this integration as you need to use Git commands.
