Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
# | Feature Category | Feature Name | Apex Description | Java Description | Code Sample (Apex) |
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1 | Syntax & Structure | Class Definition | Uses the class keyword, similar to Java, but with specific modifiers like public , global , with sharing , without sharing . |
Uses the class keyword with modifiers like public , private , protected , final , abstract . Supports interfaces and inheritance. |
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2 | Syntax & Structure | Variable Declaration | Strongly-typed with primitive types (Integer, Decimal, Boolean, String, Date, Datetime, Time), sObject types (Account, Contact), and collections (List, Set, Map). | Strongly-typed with primitive types (int, float, boolean, String, Date, LocalDateTime, etc.), object types, and a rich collections framework (List, Set, Map, etc.). Supports generics. |
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3 | Syntax & Structure | Control Flow | Supports if-else , for , while , do-while loops, similar to Java. Also includes for...each for collections. |
Supports if-else , for , while , do-while loops, and enhanced for loop (for-each) for collections and arrays. Also includes switch statements (with more features in newer Java versions). |
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4 | Object-Oriented | Inheritance | Supports single inheritance for classes using the extends keyword. |
Supports single inheritance for classes using the extends keyword and multiple inheritance for types through interfaces using the implements keyword. |
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5 | Object-Oriented | Interfaces | Supports interfaces using the interface and implements keywords. |
Supports interfaces using the interface and implements keywords, allowing classes to implement multiple interfaces. Interfaces can also have default methods (since Java 8). |
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6 | Object-Oriented | Polymorphism | Achieved through method overriding (using the override keyword) and interface implementation. |
Achieved through method overriding and interface implementation. Also through method overloading (different parameter lists). |
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7 | Database Interaction | SOQL (Salesforce Object Query Language) | A powerful language specifically for querying Salesforce data. Embedded directly within Apex code. Returns sObject records. | Uses JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) and ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) frameworks like Hibernate or JPA (Java Persistence API) to interact with various databases. Queries return Java objects. |
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8 | Database Interaction | DML (Data Manipulation Language) | Provides statements (insert , update , delete , upsert , undelete ) for managing Salesforce records. Includes built-in transaction management and governor limits awareness. |
Uses JDBC for basic data manipulation and ORM frameworks for more complex operations. Transaction management is typically explicit. |
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9 | Exception Handling | Try-Catch-Finally | Supports try , catch (for specific exception types like DmlException , QueryException ), and finally blocks for handling runtime errors. |
Supports try , catch (for specific exception types like IOException , SQLException ), and finally blocks for handling runtime errors. Supports checked and unchecked exceptions. |
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10 | Collections | Lists | Ordered collections of elements. Similar to Java’s List . |
Ordered collections of elements, providing implementations like ArrayList and LinkedList . Supports generics for type safety. |
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11 | Collections | Sets | Unordered collections of unique elements. Similar to Java’s Set . |
Unordered collections of unique elements, providing implementations like HashSet and TreeSet . Supports generics for type safety. |
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12 | Collections | Maps | Collections of key-value pairs where keys are unique. Similar to Java’s Map . |
Collections of key-value pairs where keys are unique, providing implementations like HashMap and TreeMap . Supports generics for type safety. |
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13 | Asynchronous Processing | Future Methods | Methods annotated with @future that run asynchronously. Primarily used for long-running operations that should not block the user interface or trigger governor limits. Cannot directly access sObject variables. |
Supports multi-threading using the Thread class and the Runnable interface. Provides more fine-grained control over thread management and resource sharing. |
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14 | Asynchronous Processing | Queueable Apex | Allows for more complex asynchronous operations than Future methods, including chaining of jobs and the ability to use sObject variables. Implements the Queueable interface. |
Achieved through thread pools (e.g., ExecutorService ) and concurrent programming utilities in the java.util.concurrent package, offering more sophisticated control over task execution and resource management. |
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15 | Governor Limits | Enforcement | Apex code execution is strictly governed by a set of limits (CPU time, SOQL queries, DML statements, etc.) to ensure fair resource usage in the multi-tenant Salesforce environment. Exceeding these limits results in runtime exceptions. | While Java applications also need to be mindful of resource usage (memory, CPU), the enforcement is typically at the operating system or JVM level, not through language-level governor limits like Apex. |
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16 | Testing | Built-in Framework | Provides a built-in testing framework using the @isTest annotation, test methods, and assertion methods (System.assertEquals , System.assertNotEquals , etc.). Code coverage is a mandatory aspect of deployment. |
Supports various testing frameworks like JUnit and TestNG, which are external libraries. Code coverage analysis often requires separate tools. |
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17 | Security | Sharing Model Awareness | Apex code can be executed in different sharing contexts (with sharing , without sharing ) to enforce or bypass Salesforce’s record-level security. |
Java applications interacting with databases typically handle security through database user permissions and application-level authorization logic. No direct language-level concept equivalent to Salesforce’s sharing model. |
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18 | Security | SOSL (Salesforce Object Search Language) | A language for performing text-based searches across multiple Salesforce objects. | Java applications typically rely on database-specific full-text search capabilities or external search engines like Elasticsearch or Solr. No direct language-level equivalent to SOSL. |
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19 | Web Services | Callouts | Provides built-in classes (Http , HttpRequest , HttpResponse ) for making HTTP callouts to external web services (REST or SOAP). Governed by limits and requires explicit permission for external endpoints. Supports asynchronous callouts via @future(callout=true) . |
Provides rich libraries for making HTTP requests (e.g., java.net.http.HttpClient , Apache HttpClient). Handling asynchronous requests often involves using threads or reactive programming libraries. |
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20 | Web Services | Web Service Annotations | Allows Apex classes and methods to be exposed as SOAP or REST web services using annotations like @RestResource and @HttpPost , @HttpGet , etc. |
Java provides frameworks like JAX-WS (for SOAP) and JAX-RS (for REST, with implementations like Jersey and RestEasy) to expose Java classes as web services using annotations. |
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21 | Events | Platform Events | A publish/subscribe mechanism for real-time event-driven architecture within Salesforce and with external systems. Defined as custom objects with specific data types. | Java supports event-driven architectures through various frameworks and messaging systems like JMS (Java Message Service), Apache Kafka, and Spring Integration. |
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22 | Events | Apex Triggers | Code that executes before or after specific data manipulation language (DML) events occur on Salesforce records (e.g., before insert, after update). | Java doesn’t have a direct equivalent at the language level. Event handling in Java often involves listeners and event sources within specific frameworks (e.g., UI frameworks, application servers). |
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23 | User Interface | Visualforce | A framework for building custom user interfaces within Salesforce using a tag-based markup language similar to HTML, often combined with Apex code for dynamic behavior. | Java offers various UI frameworks like Swing, JavaFX, and web-based frameworks like Spring MVC, Jakarta Faces (JSF), and others for building user interfaces. |
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24 | User Interface | Lightning Web Components (LWC) | A modern, standards-based framework for building user interfaces on the Salesforce platform using HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Apex is used to fetch and manipulate data. | Modern Java web development often involves frontend frameworks like React, Angular, or Vue.js for building dynamic UIs, with Java primarily handling the backend logic and API development. |
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25 | Deployment | Salesforce Metadata API | Deployment of Apex code and related metadata (objects, fields, etc.) to Salesforce organizations is typically done through the Metadata API using tools like Change Sets, Salesforce CLI, or CI/CD pipelines. | Java application deployment involves packaging the application (e.g., as a JAR or WAR file) and deploying it to a Java runtime environment (JRE) or a Java application server (e.g., Tomcat, Jetty, WildFly). Deployment processes vary depending on the environment. |
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Note: Apex is specifically designed for the Salesforce platform, while Java is a general-purpose programming language. This fundamental difference influences many of their features.
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