Salesforce is a leading CRM platform used by businesses across industries to manage customer data, automate processes, and drive sales. One of the most powerful features within Salesforce is the ability to automate actions through triggers. Triggers in Salesforce allow users to execute custom code before or after events such as insertions, updates, or deletions of records. Understanding how to work with triggers is an essential skill for any Salesforce developer or administrator, and interviewers frequently ask questions related to triggers during technical interviews.
In this article, we’ll cover the top 33 interview questions on triggers in Salesforce. Each question comes with a concise answer and a brief explanation to help you prepare thoroughly for your interview.
Top 33 Interview Questions on Triggers in Salesforce
1. What is a Trigger in Salesforce?
A trigger in Salesforce is an Apex code that automatically executes before or after a specific event occurs, such as insertions, updates, or deletions of records in an object. It can be written to perform operations like validation, updating fields, or integrating with external systems.
Explanation: Triggers are essential for automating custom logic and processes within Salesforce, enabling developers to extend the platform’s functionality.
2. What are the types of Triggers in Salesforce?
Salesforce supports two types of triggers: “Before” triggers, which are executed before a record is saved to the database, and “After” triggers, which are executed after the record has been saved.
Explanation: Before triggers are often used for validation or modification, while after triggers are typically used for tasks like sending notifications or writing to external systems.
3. Can you explain the difference between “before” and “after” triggers?
Before triggers execute before the record is committed to the database, allowing developers to modify the record’s values. After triggers, on the other hand, are used when actions need to occur after the record has been saved, such as updating related records or making external API calls.
Explanation: Before triggers allow changes to be made before the save operation, while after triggers are ideal for post-save operations such as sending data to external systems.
4. When should you use “before” triggers?
Before triggers should be used when you need to update or validate the record before it is saved to the database. For example, ensuring that a field has a valid value or calculating values for other fields before the save operation.
Explanation: Before triggers help ensure data integrity and allow custom logic to be applied before the actual save event takes place.
5. When should you use “after” triggers?
After triggers are best used when you need to perform actions that depend on the saved record, such as updating related records, making external API calls, or sending notifications.
Explanation: Since the record is already saved in the database, after triggers ensure you have access to a stable version of the record.
6. What is the purpose of “trigger.new” and “trigger.old” in triggers?
trigger.new holds the list of new records that are attempting to be inserted or updated, while trigger.old contains the list of old records for update or delete operations.
Explanation: These context variables allow developers to access both the new and old values of records during trigger execution.
7. Can we call a trigger on multiple objects?
No, a trigger is associated with only one object. If you need to work with multiple objects, you must create separate triggers for each object or use helper methods from Apex classes.
Explanation: Triggers are object-specific, but sharing logic across triggers can be achieved through classes and reusable methods.
8. How can we prevent recursion in triggers?
Recursion can be prevented by using static variables. By storing a flag in a static variable, you can check whether the trigger has already executed and avoid repeating the trigger logic.
Explanation: Recursion in triggers can lead to unexpected behavior, so static variables help in controlling multiple executions of the same trigger.
9. What is a Trigger Context Variable?
Trigger context variables are predefined variables in Salesforce that contain runtime information about the trigger’s operation. Some examples include trigger.new, trigger.old, trigger.isInsert, and trigger.isUpdate.
Explanation: These variables provide developers with information about the records and actions being executed in the trigger.
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10. What is “bulkification” in triggers, and why is it important?
Bulkification refers to the practice of writing triggers that can handle multiple records at once. This is important because triggers in Salesforce often run in bulk, meaning they may handle hundreds or thousands of records simultaneously.
Explanation: Bulkification ensures that your trigger performs efficiently even when processing a large number of records.
11. What are governor limits in Salesforce?
Governor limits are Salesforce-enforced limits that prevent the overuse of shared resources. Examples include limits on the number of SOQL queries, DML operations, and CPU time a transaction can use.
Explanation: Understanding governor limits is essential to ensure your trigger does not exceed resource usage and fail during execution.
12. Can we call future methods from a trigger?
Yes, future methods can be called from a trigger. Future methods are useful for handling long-running processes that should not block the execution of the trigger, such as making callouts to external systems.
Explanation: Future methods allow triggers to perform asynchronous operations, reducing execution time and avoiding governor limits.
13. How do you handle exceptions in triggers?
Exceptions in triggers can be handled using try-catch blocks. It is important to catch any errors and log or handle them appropriately to ensure the trigger does not cause issues for the user.
Explanation: Exception handling ensures that your triggers run smoothly without causing errors that affect other parts of the system.
14. What is a trigger handler pattern?
A trigger handler pattern is a best practice in Salesforce where the business logic of the trigger is moved to an Apex class, separating the trigger logic from the code. This makes the trigger easier to manage and test.
Explanation: Using a handler pattern keeps your trigger code clean and modular, improving maintainability and testability.
15. What are trigger frameworks in Salesforce?
Trigger frameworks are structured methods of organizing and managing triggers using best practices, such as using a single trigger per object and delegating logic to handler classes. Common frameworks include the TDTM (Trigger Design-Time Model) and SFDC Trigger Framework.
Explanation: Trigger frameworks help standardize the way triggers are written, making them easier to manage and scale.
16. What is the difference between “insert” and “upsert” in triggers?
The “insert” operation adds new records, while “upsert” adds new records or updates existing records if they already exist. Triggers can handle both of these operations based on the context of the operation.
Explanation: Insert focuses on creating new records, whereas upsert combines both insert and update functionality in a single operation.
17. How do you test a trigger in Salesforce?
Testing triggers in Salesforce involves writing unit tests that cover the various trigger events (insert, update, delete, etc.) and using test data to simulate the trigger’s execution. This ensures that the trigger behaves as expected under different conditions.
Explanation: Testing is essential in Salesforce to ensure triggers work as intended and do not violate governor limits or cause unexpected behavior.
18. What is the order of execution in Salesforce when a record is saved?
The order of execution in Salesforce when a record is saved includes validation rules, before triggers, after triggers, workflow rules, process builders, and finally, DML operations. Understanding this order is important when writing triggers.
Explanation: Knowing the order of execution ensures that your trigger logic works in harmony with other Salesforce automation processes.
19. How do you write a trigger to update related records?
To update related records in a trigger, you can query the related records in the trigger and perform updates using DML operations. Be mindful of governor limits and bulkify your trigger code.
Explanation: Updating related records is a common use case for triggers, but it requires careful management of SOQL queries and DML statements to avoid exceeding limits.
20. Can we have multiple triggers on the same object?
Yes, multiple triggers can be created on the same object, but it is a best practice to have only one trigger per object to avoid conflicts and ensure maintainability.
Explanation: Having a single trigger per object simplifies debugging, testing, and maintaining the trigger logic.
21. How do you control the order of execution for multiple triggers on the same object?
Salesforce does not allow developers to directly control the order of execution for multiple triggers on the same object. However, you can combine triggers into one and manage the order of logic execution within the trigger.
Explanation: Combining triggers into one ensures that the logic is executed in the desired order, reducing potential conflicts.
22. What are static variables in triggers?
Static variables are variables declared with the “static” keyword in Apex. They are used to store data that persists across trigger invocations within the same transaction, making them useful for preventing recursion.
Explanation: Static variables provide a way to store and reuse values across trigger executions within a single transaction.
23. What are “trigger.isExecuting” and “trigger.isInsert”?
trigger.isExecuting returns true if the trigger is currently executing, while trigger.isInsert returns true if the trigger is running for an insert operation.
Explanation: *These context variables help
developers understand the type of operation and whether the trigger is executing in a specific context.*
24. Can triggers be used to perform database rollbacks?
Yes, triggers can use the Apex Database.rollback method to undo database changes if certain conditions are met during trigger execution. This is useful for preventing data corruption or invalid data entry.
Explanation: Database rollbacks in triggers provide a safeguard against unintended data changes by reverting records to their previous state.
25. What is the maximum number of triggers that can be executed in a transaction?
Salesforce imposes governor limits that restrict the number of DML operations and SOQL queries a trigger can perform in a single transaction. While there is no hard limit on the number of triggers, exceeding governor limits will cause a transaction to fail.
Explanation: Ensuring that your trigger is efficient and bulkified helps avoid exceeding governor limits during execution.
26. Can we use triggers to schedule future tasks?
Yes, triggers can call future methods or schedule Apex jobs to perform tasks at a later time. This is useful for offloading long-running processes that should not block the trigger’s immediate execution.
Explanation: Scheduling tasks from triggers allows you to handle time-consuming operations asynchronously.
27. How do you ensure trigger performance?
Trigger performance can be ensured by following best practices such as bulkification, reducing the number of SOQL queries, minimizing DML operations, and using context variables effectively.
Explanation: Good trigger performance is critical to ensure that Salesforce runs smoothly without hitting governor limits.
28. How can we access parent and child records in triggers?
In a trigger, you can access parent records using relationships such as Account.Parent or Contact.Account. Child records can be accessed using SOQL queries or relationships like Account.Contacts.
Explanation: Accessing related records within triggers requires a good understanding of Salesforce object relationships and SOQL queries.
29. What are trigger execution limits?
Trigger execution limits are defined by Salesforce governor limits, such as the maximum number of SOQL queries, DML statements, and CPU time that a trigger can consume in a single transaction.
Explanation: Being aware of trigger execution limits helps avoid hitting limits that can cause your trigger to fail unexpectedly.
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30. Can we modify the same record within a trigger?
Yes, you can modify the same record within a trigger, but it is important to do this within a “before” trigger. In an “after” trigger, attempting to modify the same record can cause recursion or errors.
Explanation: Modifying the same record within a trigger should be done carefully to avoid infinite loops and recursion issues.
31. What are recursive triggers, and how do you avoid them?
Recursive triggers occur when a trigger causes itself to be re-executed, leading to an infinite loop. You can avoid recursion by using static variables to track whether the trigger has already executed.
Explanation: Preventing recursive triggers ensures that your logic executes once per transaction and avoids performance degradation.
32. How do you optimize a trigger for large data volumes?
To optimize a trigger for large data volumes, bulkify your code, limit SOQL queries, and avoid DML operations within loops. Using asynchronous methods like future or batch Apex can also help with handling large volumes of data.
Explanation: Optimizing triggers for large data volumes ensures that they scale effectively and avoid performance issues.
33. Can we disable a trigger temporarily in Salesforce?
You cannot directly disable a trigger in Salesforce, but you can deactivate it by setting a condition within the trigger that prevents its execution. Alternatively, you can use configuration changes or Apex code to disable the logic temporarily.
Explanation: Disabling a trigger temporarily can be useful during testing or maintenance without removing the trigger entirely.
Conclusion
Understanding how to work with triggers is a critical skill for any Salesforce developer. From creating bulkified code to managing recursion, triggers allow developers to add complex, automated logic to Salesforce. These 33 interview questions on triggers will help you prepare for your next Salesforce interview by covering a wide range of essential topics.
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