This contributed articole if written by Gilad David Maayan is a technology writer who has worked with over 150 technology companies including SAP, Imperva, Samsung NEXT, NetApp and Check Point, producing technical and thought leadership content that elucidates technical solutions for developers and IT leadership. Today he heads Agile SEO, the leading marketing agency in the technology industry.
What Is Continuous Delivery?
Continuous delivery is a software development practice where code changes are built, tested, and prepared for release to production in a rapid, consistent manner. It aims to make deployments—whether of a large-scale distributed system, a complex production environment, an embedded system, or an app—predictable and routine affairs that can be performed at any time on demand.
In the context of Salesforce development, continuous delivery ensures that the code and configuration changes made in Salesforce are always in a releasable state. This means that whenever a change is made, it is immediately tested and prepared for deployment. The continuous delivery approach reduces the lead time for changes, minimizes the risk of deployment failures, and provides quick feedback to the development team.
Continuous delivery in Salesforce development is all about automation. Every stage of the development process—from code creation to testing to deployment—is automated. This eliminates manual errors, accelerates the development process, and ensures that every change is immediately ready for production. It’s about making sure that any version of the software, from any point in its lifecycle, can be reliably and rapidly released.
Benefits of Salesforce Continuous Delivery
Here are a few of the reasons forward-looking organizations developing code for Salesforce are transitioning to continuous delivery:
Faster Time to Market
CI/CD ensures that every change is immediately ready for deployment, which drastically reduces the lead time for changes. This means that new features and improvements can be delivered to customers more quickly, which can provide a competitive advantage.
Moreover, continuous delivery facilitates a culture of experimentation. Because it’s easy and safe to release changes, you can experiment with new features and improvements more frequently. This can lead to innovative solutions that meet customer needs more effectively and quickly.
Lower Development Costs
By automating the development process, you eliminate the need for manual testing and deployment, which can be time-consuming and expensive. Automation also reduces the risk of human error in deployments, which can lead to costly mistakes and rework.
Furthermore, continuous delivery promotes a “fail fast” mentality. Because changes are released quickly, problems are identified and addressed sooner, which can save significant time and resources in the long run.
Low Risk Releases
When practicing continuous delivery in Salesforce development, every change is immediately tested and prepared for deployment, so the risk of deployment failures is minimized. This means you can release changes with confidence, knowing that they have been thoroughly tested and are ready for production.
Moreover, continuous delivery allows for more frequent releases, which means smaller, more manageable changes. This reduces the risk associated with large, infrequent releases, which can be challenging to manage and troubleshoot.
Setting up the Salesforce Development Environment for Continuous Delivery
Set Up Version Control
The first step in setting up the Salesforce Development Environment for continuous delivery is setting up version control. Version control systems are essential tools for any software development project, and Salesforce development is no exception. They allow developers to keep track of changes made to the source code, making it easier to collaborate and manage changes. A common choice is Git, a distributed version control system that is widely used in the software development industry.
Setting up version control in Salesforce can be done using Salesforce CLI. After installing Salesforce CLI, you can create a new Git repository in your Salesforce project directory. Then, you can commit and push changes to the repository using Git commands. This process allows you to keep a historical record of your project’s development and facilitates collaboration among team members.
Leverage Salesforce DX
Salesforce DX (Salesforce Developer Experience), is a suite of tools and features that allow developers to build and manage Salesforce apps throughout the entire software development lifecycle.
Salesforce DX provides a modern and integrated development environment, supports team collaboration, and simplifies the process of building and deploying apps. Moreover, Salesforce DX is built around the concept of “source-driven development”, which aligns with the idea of continuous delivery.
To leverage Salesforce DX, you need to install it on your machine and set up a Salesforce DX project. The project will serve as your main workspace, where you can develop, test, and deploy your Salesforce apps. Salesforce DX also integrates with version control systems like Git, making it even more convenient for continuous delivery.
Automate Builds and Testing
Automation is a key component of continuous delivery, as it eliminates the need for manual intervention in the software delivery process.
In Salesforce, you can automate builds using scripts and Salesforce CLI commands. These scripts can be run automatically whenever a change is pushed to the version control system, ensuring that the latest version of the software is always available for testing.
Automating testing is also essential. Salesforce provides several tools for automated testing, including Apex testing and Lightning testing. These tools allow you to write test cases for your Salesforce apps and run them automatically. By automating testing, you can ensure that all changes to the software are thoroughly tested before they are delivered.
Utilize Salesforce’s Package Management Capabilities
Salesforce packages are containers for something as small as an individual component or as large as a set of related apps. After the package is created, it’s easy to distribute to other orgs and even list on the AppExchange.
Packages are particularly useful in managing customizations and extending Salesforce. By grouping related items into packages, you can track and manage them as a unit, making it easier to deploy changes and roll them back if necessary. This feature ties in well with continuous delivery, where changes are continuously integrated and deployed.
Salesforce provides two types of packages: unmanaged and managed. Unmanaged packages are typically used for distributing open-source projects or templates, while managed packages are used for full-scale app distribution. For continuous delivery it is recommended to use managed packages as they offer more features and control over the package lifecycle.
Scan Code for Security Vulnerabilities
Finally, it’s crucial to consider security. One of the tools you can use for this purpose is Salesforce’s Security Source Scanner. This tool automatically scans code for security vulnerabilities, helping ensure that the software is secure before it’s delivered.
The Security Source Scanner checks your Salesforce code against a set of security rules. If it finds any violations, it reports them so you can fix them before delivery. This tool is especially useful in a continuous delivery setup, where changes are delivered frequently and there’s a high risk of introducing security vulnerabilities.
In conclusion, setting up a Salesforce development environment for continuous delivery involves several steps, each of which plays a crucial role in ensuring a smooth and efficient software delivery process. By following these steps, you can streamline your Salesforce development process, improve collaboration among your team, and deliver high-quality Salesforce developments consistently and efficiently.