Choosing the Salesforce API for a requirement
How to pick the Salesforce API from volume, timing, payload and audience: REST vs SOAP and the two WSDLs, the Composite family, Bulk API 2.0 vs the original Bulk API (Serial mode, automatic PK chunking, queryAll), Pub/Sub API vs Streaming API, Metadata and Tooling API, UI, Connect, GraphQL and Analytics APIs, the Limits resource, and when custom Apex REST is justified.
Given a use case that includes technical requirements, constraints, or drivers, specify the appropriate Salesforce application programming interface(s) (API) for the proposed solution.
~7 min read · 16 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- Choose between REST and SOAP, and between the Enterprise and Partner WSDLs, from the client's skills and how many orgs it serves.
- Pick the Composite family member from transaction, reference and size needs, and switch to Bulk API 2.0 above about 2,000 records.
- Know when the original Bulk API still wins (Serial mode) and what Bulk API 2.0 does automatically (PK chunking), plus queryAll for deleted records.
- Specify Pub/Sub API for new event subscribers and name the APIs that can publish events.
- Match specialist APIs to audiences: Metadata, Tooling, User Interface, Connect REST, GraphQL, Analytics REST, and the REST Limits resource.
- Justify a custom Apex REST or SOAP service only when standard APIs can't express the logic.
Key terms: Composite (up to 25 dependent subrequests in one call, optionally all-or-nothing); reference ID (passes one subrequest's output to a later one); PK chunking (splitting a large query by record ID ranges); Serial mode (original Bulk API concurrency mode that processes batches one at a time); Partner WSDL (loosely typed WSDL not tied to one org).
Key facts
- Detail
- Over 2,000 records: a good Bulk API 2.0 candidate; fewer: bulkified REST or SOAP
- Detail
- Automatic in Bulk API 2.0 query jobs; manual in original Bulk API
- Detail
- Original Bulk API only; Bulk API 2.0 is always parallel
- Detail
- Adds merged/deleted records and archived Tasks and Events
- Detail
- 25 subrequests, one API call, reference IDs
- Detail
- Independent subrequests; no rollback of earlier commits
- Detail
- 500 nodes; all-or-nothing per graph
- Detail
- SOAP, REST, Bulk API 2.0, or Pub/Sub API
- Detail
- Max and remaining allocations, accurate within five minutes
Sources for this section (10)
- Introduction to Bulk API 2.0 and Bulk APIdeveloper.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Bulk API 2.0 vs Bulk APIdeveloper.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- JobInfodeveloper.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Integration Patterns Overviewarchitect.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Create a Query Jobdeveloper.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Compositedeveloper.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Composite Batchdeveloper.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Using Composite Graphsdeveloper.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Publish Event Messagesdeveloper.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Limits (REST API)developer.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Why does a three-record atomic create with a shared Account Id use Composite instead of Composite Batch?
- When is the original Bulk API still the right choice over Bulk API 2.0?
- Why would a native mobile app use User Interface API instead of sObject resources?
- Which operation makes a bulk extract include deleted records?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
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