Salesforce Apex or Flow?

Many people have been talking about the “best” way to automate in Salesforce for many months. One group yells, “We should use Flow!” The other group screams, “Code is the way!” In reality, both options have their pros and cons. There are some technology perks and some business benefits.
I know enough about both methods that I can ask “To Flow or To Code?” every time I have an Automation Use Case and get an answer.

To Code or to Flow?

I ask myself a few simple questions to help me decide whether to build a Flow or write code.

Does it need a human interface, or will it work on its own?
In a single operation, how many records could be handled?
Who will keep the robots running?
How often do changes need to be made to this system or process?
Is the process hard to understand?
There are pros and cons to both ways of doing things.

Let’s find out the Benefits and drawbacks of Both

Flow benefits

Flow is easy for admins to use.
Simple to Change
easy to deal with Interface for the user and automatic processes
Visual Process can make it easier for people who don’t write to look at
Easy access to the previous version without version control from the outside
Flows are easy for admins to turn off.

Drawbacks of Flow

Problems that come up with big record sets
It’s hard to do complex queries.
Only a description and naming rules are included in the documentation.
Depending on the type of flow that is being made, Flow Builder has different limits.
Before-save triggered flow has more restrictions than an after-save triggered flow. There are also things that can’t be done with Flow alone, like handling long lists or making your own validation rules.

Benefits of using Apex

Deals with large sets of records per transaction Complex Queries ([Select id, name from Contact where id in (‘id1′,’id2’))
Unit tests make sure that everything works right.
Supports Notes for reference and reading ease

Drawbacks of using Apex

Apex’s downside is that it needs a developer user interface, which means it needs a Visualforce page or Lightning component.
You can write Apex Unit tests for Flow, but they are required for Apex Code.
A unit test is only as good as how it is written, so just because there is a test doesn’t mean it is doing its job. There are more pros and cons for each method, and depending on your point of view.
Apex’s only real problem is that it doesn’t have enough resources. A company can spend a lot of money on developer tools. But Apex doesn’t have any limits when it comes to how it works. Anything is possible if you have a writer who can write the right code.

How to Choose One?

Below are some points to consider before you choose Apex or FLow.

My personal rule is that any algorithm with less than 500 records and simple reasoning is fine. I always start by building in Flow.
Except for Scheduled Flow systems, the major crucial choice is whether or not to have more than 500 records.
There are other things to think about. A company might not have anyone who knows how to write apex code and doesn’t have the money or isn’t willing to pay someone else to do the job.
Even if the theory is very complicated, the best choice right now for that company is to build it in Flow.
It can also be the other way around. Someone in a company may be very good at Apex Code, but no one may understand Flow. Right now, Apex Code is the best option for this company.

Flow of testing

To test a flow, click the Debug button on the canvas, enter your variables, and click Run. Then go through the flow to make sure everything works right. This method is very helpful when it comes to screen flows.

Note that a test function called “Debug on Canvas” is available as of the Salesforce Winter 2021 release. This feature makes it easier to fix a flow by showing visually where it will go when it runs. In the debug data, it also shows how far queries can go. Also, debugging now has two more choices than it did before: Run flow as another person and Run flow in reverse mode.

Summary:

I hope this post has helped you figure out what makes Salesforce Flow and Apex different. From the resources you have to the limits of each tool, you need to choose the right one for your company. Salesforce Flow Builder is a much more powerful automation tool than the ones it is replacing, but it is still a long way from being able to completely replace Apex.