Salesforce AppExchange App Development Best Practices to Build Scalable and Secure Applications

Salesforce AppExchange app development is a process of creating scalable and secure applications that work with the Salesforce platform and can be distributed through the AppExchange marketplace. 

These applications range from productivity tools to industry-specific solutions, offering a diverse range of options. Developing and listing applications on AppExchange opens a door to revenue-generating opportunities and reaches a wider market segment for businesses like yours.

Want to build a top-rated AppExchange application from the rest? Is it just about innovative features, or is there a secret recipe for success? 

In this blog, we’ll explore the best practices that can turn your app ideas into a trusted solution for Salesforce users everywhere.

Let’s get started! 

Best Practices to Follow While Developing a Salesforce AppExchange Application   

Here is a list of best practices that you must follow: 

1. Opt for 2GP Managed Packages 

When building and packaging an application into a managed package, opt for 2GP managed packages. These packages offer benefits over 1GP-managed packages. It is an older way of building applications, relying on a single Salesforce Org to store and manage your code and data. It slows development, siloed workflows, leading to messy or outdated code called metadata drift.  

On the other hand, 2GP packages are built for modern Appexchnage app development:

• Your code and data are stored in Git, a version control system. This makes it easier to track changes, work together as a team, and build new features securely.
• You can work on different versions of the app at the same time. If you find a problem in a certain version, you can skip it and move to another version without being stuck.
• You can break your app into smaller, manageable modules, such as core and analytics modules. This allows for easy updates and improvements. 
• You do not need to create special patch orgs for bug fixes. It saves time and avoids unnecessary complexity.

It is important to know that moving from a 1GP to a 2GP managed package can be expensive and complicated due to the complexity involved in migration. Therefore, you must carefully assess your Salesforce app development needs and then choose between 1GP and 2GP managed packages. 

2. Shift to Salesforce DX (SFDX) and Scratch Orgs

The problem arises when shared environments, such as sandboxes, lead to conflicts. It can create confusion related to overwriting changes, manual developments, and time consumption. It might result in ‘works in the development but breaks in the production,’ causing failed deployments and frustration during critical updates. This can directly impact your revenue, reputation, and time to market. 

It is best to shift towards utilizing Salesforce DX (Salesforce Developer Experience) with Scratch Orgs, a type of Salesforce Org. 

You get your instant, disposable, and distinct workspace that is tailored to your development needs. Salesforce developers get all the relevant features and functionalities in the same Org, allowing for faster development without clashing with others’ work. 

Scratch orgs are designed for automation, allowing for CI/CD. This means automated, repeatable, and auditable deployments. SFDX ensures that your application is tested in environments that mirror production for easy security review. 

3. Ensure Coding Best Practices 

Following a set of coding best practices can help your product deliver consistent performance, security, and long-term maintainability. We have listed some of the key practices that you can consider.

• Design bulkified code that can handle large batches of records instead of processing one at a time. As your AppExchnage application scales with more users and data, bulkified code helps avoid Salesforce governor limits and keeps performance consistent.
• Use data structures like Lists, Sets, and Maps to group related records or values. This enables faster lookups and efficient manipulation, and keeps your code organized and easier to maintain or extend.
• Avoid hardcoding IDs directly in your source code. Hardcoded IDs break when moving between environments. Instead, store them in custom settings or query them dynamically to keep your app portable and stable across different orgs.
• Adopt clear naming conventions for classes, methods, variables, and triggers. Descriptive names improve readability, making it easy to understand the purpose of a piece of code at a glance and reducing the risk of errors.

4. Automated Testing 

Perform automated testing to ensure 24/7 protection of your application. It performs various types of tests, such as unit, integration, user acceptance, and performance testing,  over bulk records that prevent runtime crashes. It catches errors before they break your application in Salesforce.

Automated testing works in a flow: problem → solution → outcome. It identifies the issue in your application, simulates tests, and provides a solution by resolving the issue, resulting in a bug-free application. 

It future-proofs your solution by automatically checking compatibility with new Salesforce releases, ensuring no surprise failures. Most importantly, it accelerates your launch by helping you to market quicker, avoiding delays and missing opportunities. As per DevOps Digest, 46% of business teams report 50% faster code deployment with automated testing. 

5. Early Security Scans

Waiting until the final review to perform security scans can cost you 4 to 8 weeks of rework and a $2,700 resubmission fee per attempt. Worse, it delays the deployment and time to market.  

Instead, run security scans while your AppExchnage application is in development. It helps you understand the application’s security posture and implement Salesforce’s security best practices from the start. 

You can utilize free tools to check the vulnerabilities in your code. Tools such as checklist builders help you prioritize critical aspects of your solution that should be tested. Salesforce Code Analyzer helps you detect data flaws, leaks, and intrusion risks in minutes. Checkmarx is another versatile tool that offers numerous security testing features. 

• SAST (Static Application Security Testing) analyzes source code before it is built or deployed.
• SCA (Software Composition Analysis) identifies risks of third-party libraries and components used in an application. 
• DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing) analyzes running applications. 
• And more. 

6. Maintain Documentation

You can add clear, concise comments around complex business logic and maintain external documentation like README files that explain how different parts of the application work. When an issue arises, having documented data-model diagrams, permission-set instructions, and known-issue logs lets support diagnose problems faster.

Documenting logic around sensitive processes can help save time with auditing. It helps new hires or a consultant to avoid knowledge gaps and ensures that critical features continue running without disruption. 

On the other hand, you must create proper documentation for your customers as well. It acts as a guide to install and use your solution. This helps them avoid roadblocks and ensure a smooth solution configuration. With clear FAQs, knowledge-base articles, and in-app help snippets, help deflect basic configuration questions. Instead of your support reps spending hours on “Why can’t I see this tab?” tickets, customers look it up themselves.

Maintaining documentation helps both your teams and your customers during the development process. 

Conclusion 

Building a top-tier AppExchange application requires modern packaging, development tools, continuous automated testing, and proactive security measures. Therefore, by adhering to the best practices listed above, you will not only accelerate your time to market but also deliver a scalable, secure, and maintainable solution that stands out in the AppExchange ecosystem.

If you do not have an in-house team ready to tackle these challenges, our staff augmentation services can bridge the IT skills gap in your business. 
We offer expert Salesforce App developers who specialize in Salesforce AppExchange app development, ensuring your project benefits from hands-on experience in 2GP packaging, SFDX workflows, robust security reviews, and automated testing frameworks.