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I'll be honest with you, I don't think Head First Java would be a good choice, however DO READ Clean Code. I also suggest Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software and Working Effectively with Legacy Code. The first is a classic MUST READ for anyone in software development. It present numerous challenges that most of us will face when developing solutions, and gives you the design patterns you will need to solve them. The second is great for learning how to fix your predecessors shitty code, you'll need this one. If you haven't already, look up Bob Buzzard and Andy Fawcett. These two guys are my favorite SFDC Dev Bloggers. I also suggest watching any Salesforce Webinar that has anything to do with code, especially security stuff.


Practice makes perfect, except for us there is no perfect, just better. Know your best practices and live by them. With everything you do ask how can I make it better? Faster? More efficient? Do I even need code, or will Workflow/Process Builder/Flow do? How can I write code, so that an Admin can customize it without any code?

> Based on code reviews--my code is pretty good, with good logic and pretty well laid out.

This is actually VERY important, having good logic is obviously crucial, but being well laid out is a kind of hidden requirement with code. You or somebody else will eventually need to maintain your code, if it's laid out well it should hopefully be easy to read and maintain.

When you write code do your best to incorporate declarative features so that further customization can be done without code (I know I said this earlier, but I think it's important). Need to write some code that uses an arbitrary set of fields, consider using Field Sets. An Admin can add/remove them without code. Maybe use a Custom Setting, or Custom Metadata to map fields to values.

Learn how to use Describe calls for everything. Need to write some code that catches dupes and merges them? Don't hard code the values, then nobody will be able to remove or add fields without updating code. Instead use Describe calls, now you get every field on the object forever. Need to remove a field from an object no problem. Need to add a field to an object no problem. Does your losing record have child records that need to be reparented? Don't hard code, use Describe calls to get all sObjects with a Child Relationship. Use Describe to find out if it can be directly reparented or if it needs to be clones (CampaignMembers can't reparent a LeadId to a new Lead. You MUST clone and add the new Lead Id).

How much do you know about HTML? CSS? JavaScript? JQuery? Visualforce? Learn 'em. Lightning is coming, and these are going to be more important than ever (except maybe Jquery).

Practice, practice, practice. One coding assignment per month isn't that bad, but if you get some work done early and you have an hour or two to spare, work on a side project. Can you think of something in your company that could be automated, spin up a Dev Org and give it a shot. Maybe your Sales people could use a new VF page for entering information just a little quicker.

Always seek to improve your code. Always seek new ideas and better ways of doing things.

Trailhead is good, do all the coding ones you can find, it's more practice!

Some great points here but from the sounds of your post that you are now "in charge of Salesforce" there aren't people telling you what to do in it. It sounds to me your job role has changed from "The Admin" to "The Consultant/BA". Yes go for some certifications but mostly I think it's about moving more into the Consultant/BA role. Find how Salesforce can be used more effectively in your company to add value and measure it!. Actually, sit with some of your users who are advocates of Salesforce and understand how they do their job. I always look for people who use Excel/paper forms or are chasing different people for the same information again and again. Excel and paper forms can be turned into Salesforce objects, the chasing emails can be turned into workflows/process builder/automation. Work out how many times they have to copy/paste/send emails etc based on what you have automated. Then go to your boss and say hey I just saved the company $$ by automating this process. Maybe go look at common processes that the company does as a whole where you can make a bigger saving.

IMO That sounds a million times more compelling to your boss than hey look I passed the Salesforce Admin exam and completed 100 badges on Trailhead. I'm not saying not to do training but once you have identified the need for Salesforce its time to fill in your knowledge gaps with Trailhead/Certs etc and what better way to learn than on a real life scenario.

This sounds like a great opportunity and if it doesn't work out you can always put on your CV I saved the company $xxx,xxx in automating their processes using Salesforce.

Some books which I've had for YEARS but are (IMO) the bibles on Business Analysis:
https://www.amazon.com/Business-Analysis-Techniques-Essential-Success/dp/1780172737
https://www.amazon.com/Business-Analysis-James-Cadle/dp/178017277X

What are your 3-5 year goals? You don't have any code experience, do you want to gain some broad computer science/ programming chops or are you after SF specifically? What happens if SF falls out of favor, what do you want to be your secondary employable IT skill? Things to think about as your starting your journey into programming.

Regardless of your goals, I would encourage you to learn some additional languages/ paradigms than SF. I can't stop suggesting cs50, it's a world class intro to computer science.

Without filling in some more of your broad coding chops and learning best practices it will become at increasingly difficult at some point to continue to 'level up'. Understanding the design patterns/ strengths and weaknesses of other platforms will give you additional insight into what's good and bad in SF, what to lean on and what to mitigate.

What are your motivations for going into dev? Is it the work? The pay? The different role on the team? Job prospects?

What worked for me:

More than anything else, I wrote a lot of code. I wrote code to solve small problems, I wrote code for production. I volunteered with a local nonprofit. In all I tried to get in 1 hour of practice going from requirement to completed solution (with tests!) each day, with the keyboard in front of me. Preferably that 1 hour was spent on something that I would get to a MVP and would actually be used even if it was only ever by me.

Things I would suggest:

• CS50
  
• Code newbie podcast
  
• freecodecamp.org
  
• Thoughts I wish I had run into when I was starting Also I think being the only one who cares about best practices is often a SF devs job.
  
• Pragmatic programmer Useful after finishing cs50 but probably a little dense up unitl then.
  
  My goal has been to fill in a solid base of CS underneath me, that will be helpful with SF and many other platforms down the road.

As far as other sub-reddits, there isn't really a good one dedicated to management. I'm subbed to r/business, r/consulting, r/management, and r/smallbusiness (this one might be the best for you because there are a lot of posts asking how to deal with small teams and difficult employees).

Really basic: One Minute Manager https://www.amazon.com/New-One-Minute-Manager/dp/0062367544/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506001797&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=one+minut+emanager

Story Factor: https://www.amazon.com/Story-Factor-2nd-Revised/dp/0465078079/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506001667&sr=8-1&keywords=story+factor

Honestly, there's nothing better than on-the-job experience when it comes to management. You might want to follow up with your boss and ask the same pointed question, "my team seems to be growing, do you have any recommendations of books that could help me become a better manager?"

zero experience. What I'm doing right now is going through the book Lightning Sales Ops and creating the custom fields, process builders, and flows that the book outlines. I'm through Chapter 5 and just created the flow and process builder to create the Best Matched Account field on a Lead record. It had some slight hand holding but I had to figure out the process builder portion on my own. I like this book because the things you're setting up provide real benefits to sales teams, and the book shows why you're doing what you're doing.

Got mine last year.

Honestly your best bet is to use the videos provided in the training section if your company already has a version that supports it.

I read through this book as well. which seemed to help some.

Otherwise, sign up for the trailhead modules and familiarize yourself with the back end.

I think that if you can get your hands on a cheap copy of the advanced apex programming book! you should. It's not a huge tome. It's short, to the point, has many thought-provoking (yet common-sense) chapters, and has held up remarkably well through the years. Best of luck to you!

In order:

1. Sams Teach Yourself Java in 24 Hours, https://www.amazon.com/Java-Hours-Teach-Yourself-Covering/dp/0672337940/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518195283&sr=8-1&keywords=Sams+Teach+Yourself+Java+in+24+Hours
   
   
2. Sams Teach Yourself Object Oriented Programming in 21 Days, https://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-Object-Oriented-Programming/dp/0672321092/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518195312&sr=1-1&keywords=Sams+Teach+Yourself+Object+Oriented+Programming+in+21+Days
   
   
3. Design Patterns in Java Tutorial - TutorialsPoint, https://www.tutorialspoint.com/design_pattern/
   
   You should also learn about testing and how to write good tests.
   
   
4. Test Pyramid, https://martinfowler.com/bliki/TestPyramid.html
   
   
5. JUnit Tutorial, https://www.tutorialspoint.com/junit/index.htm
   
   
6. Mockito Tutorial, https://www.tutorialspoint.com/mockito/index.htm
   
   Note: It will take a bit of ingenuity to figure out how to apply the last two in Apex, but contrary to popular believe and practice, atomic tests are possible. I started working on a project to demonstrate and faciliate creating maintainable code, but the samples are too complicated, the documention needs a lot of work, there are large sections I want to refactor, and (ironically) the tests aren't even complete, but if you want to check it out: https://github.com/nilvon9wo/FakeForce
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

You can get an entry level 'Junior' developer gig but you have to do your homework:

• Get a copy of "Advanced Apex Programming" forth edition by Dan Appleman.
  
  • https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Apex-Programming-Salesforce-Appleman-ebook/dp/B07HDPVH6C
    
• Get a Developer.salesforce.com dev org going
  
• Know StackExchange and check it daily for apex questions
  
• Use the book, stackexchange, and your dev org and create/test code from stuff you see on StackExchange and/or automation you know about in your own org.
  
  And Know that Apex/VisualForce development is very different than Lightning Development, stick with Apex/VF.

ANY laptop that you can browse the web with. However, if you're going to be out and about at coffee shops, doing trailheads. I recommend buying a portable usb monitor so you can have an org on one screen and trailhead on another. ASUS MB168B 15.6" WXGA 1366x768 USB Portable Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FE690DI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_buxKAbJH351DX

https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Widescreen-designed-Calling-Recording/dp/B004FHO5Y6/ref=sr_1_3?crid=YIOTKR17R8JW&keywords=logitech+c270+webcam&qid=1563820321&s=gateway&sprefix=logitech+c270%2Caps%2C151&sr=8-3

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do you think this would work?

It kinda doesnt. Plus, developing lightning apps myself, they are all just written to the page together. Where iOS has "App sandboxing" where apps supposedly cant talk to each other, salesforce doesnt yet. Locker is supposed to be that.

I studied for about 4-5 months. I work as an admin now with a little dev experience. Got about an 80-85% on the test. Here is what I did.

1. Learned the basics of Java with this book: https://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Java-Kathy-Sierra/dp/0596009208
   
2. Watched all of David Lui's videos here: https://www.pluralsight.com/search?q=David%20Liu&categories=course&utm_source=sfdc99&utm_campaign=authordemo&clickid=SY0xd82tnxyJRtT08lQuCVrSUkgV-e3q3RXKQI0&irgwc=1&mpid=1192896&utm_source=impactradius&utm_medium=digital_affiliate&utm_campaign=1192896&aid=7010a000001xAKZAA2
   
3. Did all of these trailheads: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/users/00550000006yDdKAAU/trailmixes/prepare-for-your-salesforce-platform-developer-i-credential
   
4. Messed around a TON in my dev org making some visualforce pages and all that jazz.
   
5. Read the entire Focus on Force study guide: https://focusonforce.com/salesforce-platform-developer-1-certification-practice-exams/
   
6. Took the Focus on Force practice tests until I got a 100% on all: https://focusonforce.com/platform-developer-1-study-guide/