In this series of blog posts, we will be discussing how to use VSCode (Visual Studio Code) for development on Salesforce Platform.
Historically developers have been using different tools for development on Salesforce Platform. These tools include different IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) , Code Editors, Text Editors, Deployment tools, Data loaders etc.
The most easiest to use is the "Developer Console" provided in the Salesforce Org. Developer console is an integrated development environment with a collection of tools you can use to create, debug, and test applications in your Salesforce organization.
You can directly write code in the Org by creating classes, visualforce pages, etc. The editor provided is very basic and not very user friendly.
The Force.com IDE is a plug-in for the Eclipse IDE. This is one of most popular tools used by developers. It has source code editors, test execution tools, Querying tools etc. It can be used to create apex classes, Visualforce Pages, Lightning Components, etc.
There are some web based tools which are also quite popular like aside.io which is very fast and hence loved by developers.
These tools have several good features but shortcomings as well. Most of these are free tools provided by Salesforce or other third parties. Some are paid like Welkin Suite.
Before moving to VSCode, Salesforce tried to adopt force.com plugin for eclipse for Salesforce DX development through the Force.com IDE 2. This IDE remained in Beta and never came out of it. It was deprecated before any one could use it in day to day life. Several of the features supported by this Beta IDE are supported in VSCode. Salesforce probably dumped the IDE 2 in favour of VSCode probably because of its growing popularity. In addition to that it is quite light weight, fast and has several great features. A good comparison between VSCode and Eclipse can be found here http://vschart.com/compare/visual-studio-code/vs/eclipse-ide
The move toward VSCode (Visual Studio Code) by Salesforce started with the development and release of Salesforce DX. Salesforce DX was made Generally Available in Winter 18 around Oct 2017. Here is the announcement from Wade Wegner who was the product manager for Salesforce DX then - https://developer.salesforce.com/blogs/2017/10/salesforce-dx-is-now-generally-available.html.
Before becoming generally available, Salesforce DX was a pilot and then later a Beta program. Several developers tried it and provided feedback on its various features. Some of the feedback we still see in the different releases of Salesforce DX.
Development support in VSCode for salesforce is enabled through the Salesforce extensions for VSCode. These extensions are being developed and being provided by the Salesforce Team.
In addition to that, Visual Studio Code was being used by developers way back before Salesforce officially released the Visual Studio Code extensions. This was through the ForceCode extension by John Nelson from a company named Code Science (https://www.codescience.com/blog/2016/the-new-hotness-for-salesforce-developers). There is quite a lot recent activity in this extension (https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=JohnAaronNelson.ForceCode). This extension was deprecated by the developer not too long ago as seen from the history of Readme file. But now it looks like the developers are working aggressively on this extension again.We now have a good competition to the Salesforce Extensions for Visual Studio Code by Salesforce.
In order to fully utilise the power of Visual Studio Code for development on Salesforce Platform, you must understand how to use the Salesforce CLI tool.
Historically developers have been using different tools for development on Salesforce Platform. These tools include different IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) , Code Editors, Text Editors, Deployment tools, Data loaders etc.
The most easiest to use is the "Developer Console" provided in the Salesforce Org. Developer console is an integrated development environment with a collection of tools you can use to create, debug, and test applications in your Salesforce organization.
You can directly write code in the Org by creating classes, visualforce pages, etc. The editor provided is very basic and not very user friendly.
The Force.com IDE is a plug-in for the Eclipse IDE. This is one of most popular tools used by developers. It has source code editors, test execution tools, Querying tools etc. It can be used to create apex classes, Visualforce Pages, Lightning Components, etc.
There are some web based tools which are also quite popular like aside.io which is very fast and hence loved by developers.
These tools have several good features but shortcomings as well. Most of these are free tools provided by Salesforce or other third parties. Some are paid like Welkin Suite.
Before moving to VSCode, Salesforce tried to adopt force.com plugin for eclipse for Salesforce DX development through the Force.com IDE 2. This IDE remained in Beta and never came out of it. It was deprecated before any one could use it in day to day life. Several of the features supported by this Beta IDE are supported in VSCode. Salesforce probably dumped the IDE 2 in favour of VSCode probably because of its growing popularity. In addition to that it is quite light weight, fast and has several great features. A good comparison between VSCode and Eclipse can be found here http://vschart.com/compare/visual-studio-code/vs/eclipse-ide
The move toward VSCode (Visual Studio Code) by Salesforce started with the development and release of Salesforce DX. Salesforce DX was made Generally Available in Winter 18 around Oct 2017. Here is the announcement from Wade Wegner who was the product manager for Salesforce DX then - https://developer.salesforce.com/blogs/2017/10/salesforce-dx-is-now-generally-available.html.
Before becoming generally available, Salesforce DX was a pilot and then later a Beta program. Several developers tried it and provided feedback on its various features. Some of the feedback we still see in the different releases of Salesforce DX.
Development support in VSCode for salesforce is enabled through the Salesforce extensions for VSCode. These extensions are being developed and being provided by the Salesforce Team.
In addition to that, Visual Studio Code was being used by developers way back before Salesforce officially released the Visual Studio Code extensions. This was through the ForceCode extension by John Nelson from a company named Code Science (https://www.codescience.com/blog/2016/the-new-hotness-for-salesforce-developers). There is quite a lot recent activity in this extension (https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=JohnAaronNelson.ForceCode). This extension was deprecated by the developer not too long ago as seen from the history of Readme file. But now it looks like the developers are working aggressively on this extension again.We now have a good competition to the Salesforce Extensions for Visual Studio Code by Salesforce.
In order to fully utilise the power of Visual Studio Code for development on Salesforce Platform, you must understand how to use the Salesforce CLI tool.
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