SOQL ToolingReading Only
Now that we have an idea of what SOQL is used for 🐸 let’s hop into the how.
Salesforce provides several APIs (e.g., REST API, SOAP API, Bulk API) that enable external applications and developers to interact with Salesforce data. SOQL queries can be executed through these APIs, allowing for data retrieval and manipulation from external systems. This capability is crucial for integrating Salesforce with data analytics tools, third-party applications, or enterprise systems.
There is a wide SELECTion of methods and tools for executing your SOQL. For starters, inside your very own Developer Console, you have a quick way to query and see the results using the "Query Editor" tab.
While the Developer Console gets the job done, plenty of other tools help give you a more feature-rich experience. They come in various flavors, including Chrome extensions, desktop applications, and standalone third-party sites.
A few common tools are Salesforce Inspector, Salesforce Inspector Reloaded, and Workbench, and each has its use cases and quality-of-life improvements. Salesforce Inspector Reloaded’s ability to autocomplete field names and values when typing things out is a well-celebrated feature.
For this course, you'll submit your SOQL to the site's SOQL editor and hit "Run" to see if it meets the challenges' requirements. The SOQL editor does not return the SOQL query results, so if you'd like to verify that your query is returning the correct data, use one of the tools mentioned above before submitting.