What is Salesforce Developer Edition? A Guide to Understanding Its Benefits and How to Access It?

Salesforce Developer Edition (DE), also known as SFDC developer account, is a free environment for developers to allow them to build, test, and experiment with the Salesforce offerings. 

It is specifically designed for developers and mirrors the core features of paid Salesforce Orgs, allowing hands-on practice and thorough understanding. 

You get a library of tools and resources that help boost your productivity and creativity, helping you explore existing and new Salesforce offerings. This Org receives the same updates as production Orgs, ensuring you experiment with the latest tools and functionalities.  

It offers 5 MB to 200 MB of data storage, typically 1–2 user licenses, and API calls to ensure it is used only for development and not production.

What You Can Do with a Salesforce Developer Edition Org?

The SFDC developer account offers tools, technologies, and resources that help you innovate on Salesforce. Let’s explore how you can use its features and what you can create!

1. Build Custom Apps and Automation 

You can create custom Salesforce apps using Apex for backend coding and Lightning Web Components for reusable, modern, and responsive frontend UI development. It helps in automating your business processes using Flow Builder, Process Builder, and Apex triggers. You can use the drag-and-drop functionality to automatically generate contracts, route customer cases, and automate a variety of other business processes.

This Org supports native customization, allowing you to tailor your Salesforce environment to your unique business needs. You can create custom objects, enforce business rules natively, and configure profiles, permission sets, and share rules to control access as per your needs.  

2. Integrate With External Systems 

This Org offers full access to REST and SOAP APIs, enabling Salesforce integration to ERP, payment gateways, and marketing tools. With platform events, it enables real-time messaging between Salesforce and external systems, ensuring smooth and instant data flow. 

You can utilize MuleSoft Composer for low-code integrations and External Services for quick API integrations. This environment allows you to test these integration solutions to ensure streamlined operations across connected apps. 

3. Develop Mobile-First Solutions 

You can build and test mobile apps with offline capabilities using Salesforce Mobile SDK and LWC. Create prototypes and iterate your mobile app ideas without affecting live data or incurring extra costs. 

This Org empowers you to design responsive UIs that adapt to smartphones and tablets, boosting your customer experience with mobile-friendly interfaces. 

On the other hand, it not only empowers your customers but also empowers your remote teams with real-time access to CRM data on mobile devices. This enables remote teams to access up-to-date information on the go, supporting efficient decision-making and enhanced customer interactions.

4. Secure Apps and Data 

Salesforce Developer Edition comes with robust security features. It implements OAuth 2.0, field-level encryption (FLE), and Single Sign-On (SSO). It secures data sharing between apps, enforces control on what can be encrypted, and allows one-time access to protect data and prevent unauthorized access. 

You can audit security settings as per your needs using Security Health Check and enforce multi-factor authentication for several sensitive operations. Additionally, it meets necessary compliance requirements such as GDPR, HIPAA, and more to avoid any legal issues and meet obligations.

5. Analyze and Visualize Data 

Salesforce Developer Edition Org allows you to build custom dashboards using the Analytics API and embed Einstein analytics for AI-driven insights. Therefore, you can create dynamic reports to track your sales pipelines, predict customer behavior, and make data-driven decisions across all business domains. Additionally, track KPIs and forecast trends to be proactive in catering to the evolving requirements of your customers. With the resulting data, identify opportunities for growth and risks through AI-powered analytics. 

6. Learn and Get Certified 

Use this Org to practice and master Salesforce skills with free Trailhead modules and earn certifications. 

You get a real Org with guided projects integrated into your environment that offer detailed instructions to build a real application. 

It seamlessly works with Trailhead, offering modules with hands-on challenges, interactive projects, and quizzes that can be directly applied in your Org. You can use it to upskill your teams and reduce dependency on external consultants and instructors to guide them across Salesforce. Experiment without fear of disrupting live operations and gain immediate feedback on projects and challenges in your Org.  

Benefits of Salesforce Developer Edition Org.

Cost Savings 

Salesforce Developer Edition Org is available freely, avoiding licensing charges. It is ideal for startups, freelancers, and teams with tight budgets.

It reduces your infrastructure cost by eliminating the need to invest in additional servers or cloud resources for testing. You can test and discard failed prototypes without financial repercussions, ensuring only validated solutions move to the paid Salesforce Orgs. 

Risk-Free Development and Testing

You get an isolated Sandbox environment for building, testing, and integrating that does not affect the live production data. Therefore, you can validate new features in a safe space while avoiding system crashes or data corruption.

With Salesforce’s robust security, it mitigates operational risks, protects brand reputation, and ensures uninterrupted customer experiences. With this Org, you can ensure that the solutions you develop adhere to security and compliance standards before deployment. 

Accelerated Innovation

It allows you to experiment with cutting-edge Salesforce tools like Einstein AI, IoT Cloud, or Heroku integrations to create innovative solutions.

ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) can build and test apps for the Salesforce AppExchange. They can explore new markets and revenue opportunities with minimal risk. However, they will need a paid Salesforce production Org or Partner Org to deploy and list their solution on AppExchange. 

Seamless Collaboration 

Developer Edition Orgs facilitate collaboration with external consultants or Salesforce partners for joint projects. It streamlines teamwork and reduces development bottlenecks while accelerating project timelines. 

It uses Git repositories to manage code changes and allows developers to track modifications and review each other’s contributions. It facilitates transparency and accelerates the review cycle. 

Enhanced Customer Experience

Salesforce Developers can create demo environments to showcase solutions to potential clients without exposing proprietary data. They can validate portals, chatbots, or other offerings by Salesforce to ensure they meet user expectations.

While using anonymized or dummy data in Developer Edition, you can protect your customer’s privacy during testing. Therefore delivering reliable and user-friendly solutions that boost customer retention and loyalty. 

How to Access Salesforce Developer Edition?

• Go to developer.salesforce.com/signup
• Fill in your details 
• Agree to the terms and conditions
• Click on Sign Me Up

• After filling in your details and signing up, Salesforce will send a verification email to your email. 

• The mail includes your username and a link to reset your password and create a new one. 
• Reset your password and click on Change Password.

• Redirect to your login page and use your credentials to log in.

• After a successful login, congratulations, you have got access to your Salesforce developer edition Org.

• Explore your Org

This is how you successfully get access to your Salesforce Developer Edition Org. 

Conclusion 

Salesforce Developer Edition is a powerful tool for innovation, allowing developers and businesses like yours to experiment with Salesforce tools. Practice building custom apps, integrating systems, and securing data without compromising live operations. 

How Can We Help? 

At Smart IT Staff, we provide pre-vetted Salesforce developers ready to help you maximize the potential of your Salesforce Orgs. By hiring a Salesforce developer from us, you can accelerate your development processes, ensure high-quality solutions, and achieve meaningful business outcomes, all while leveraging the flexible hiring models we offer.