Tricky Apex Logic to Boost Daily Productivity

 Looking to boost your Apex development skills with practical, clever approaches? Here are some tricky and lesser-known Apex code techniques that Salesforce developers can use to simplify daily tasks, make code more efficient, and avoid common pitfalls.

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1. Dynamic SOQL Query Construction

Build flexible queries at runtime without risking SOQL injection.

public static List<sObject> getRecords(String objName, String filterField, String filterValue) {
    String query = 'SELECT Id, Name FROM ' + String.escapeSingleQuotes(objName) +
                   ' WHERE ' + String.escapeSingleQuotes(filterField) + ' = :filterValue';
    return Database.query(query);
}

Tip: Always validate and sanitize input to avoid SOQL injection.

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2. Map Grouping With Apex Collections

Quickly group records by a field for efficient lookups.

Map<Id, List<Contact>> contactsByAccount = new Map<Id, List<Contact>>();
for(Contact c : [SELECT Id, AccountId FROM Contact WHERE AccountId != null]) {
    if(!contactsByAccount.containsKey(c.AccountId)) {
        contactsByAccount.put(c.AccountId, new List<Contact>());
    }
    contactsByAccount.get(c.AccountId).add(c);
}

Use case: When you need to process related records in bulk.

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3. Null Coalescing for Default Values

Assign defaults using ternary operator to handle nulls elegantly.

String region = user.Region__c != null ? user.Region__c : 'Default Region';

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4. Efficient Upserts to Avoid Duplicates

Use external IDs for seamless insert/update.

upsert myContacts Contact_External_ID__c;

Benefit: No need to check if the record exists—Apex handles it.

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5. Sorting Lists of Custom Objects

Leverage Comparable interface for custom sorting.

public class MyObj implements Comparable {
    public String name;
    public Integer priority;
    public Integer compareTo(Object o) {
        MyObj other = (MyObj) o;
        return this.priority - other.priority;
    }
}

List<MyObj> objs = new List<MyObj>();
// add objs...
objs.sort();

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6. Bulkified Field Updates

Update a specific field across multiple records in one line.

for(Account acc : accList) acc.Status__c = 'Active';
update accList;

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7. Dynamic Field Access with SObject

Access fields without hardcoding names.

String fieldName = 'Custom_Field__c';
for(SObject s : records) {
    s.put(fieldName, 'Value');
}

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8. Conditional DML to Avoid Errors

Only update/insert when there are records.

if(!accList.isEmpty()) update accList;

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9. Using Sets for Fast Deduplication

Remove duplicates from a list with a Set.

List<String> emails = new List<String>{'a@example.com', 'b@example.com', 'a@example.com'};
Set<String> uniqueEmails = new Set<String>(emails);
emails = new List<String>(uniqueEmails);

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10. Exception Handling with Custom Messages

Catch exceptions and provide meaningful error details.

try {
    // risky logic
} catch(Exception ex) {
    System.debug('Error: ' + ex.getMessage());
    throw new CustomException('Failed due to: ' + ex.getMessage());
}

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Happy Coding!
Use these tricks to write cleaner, safer, and more efficient Apex code every day!