Salesforce Development - Development Environment (IntelliJ, SFDX)

From now on, I will post not only about admin-related topics but also about development-related ones. As a developer, one of the first things you should do before diving into development is setting up your development environment. While it may not be overly difficult, it can be daunting for those who just entered into the Salesforce environment, which may find it challenging to figure out the right direction. However, with this post, things will be clearer.

 

IntelliJ Setup

https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/

IntelliJ IDEA – the Leading Java and Kotlin IDE

 

Illuminated Cloud Setup (License)

- A Salesforce plugin in IntelliJ.

https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/10253-illuminated-cloud-2

Illuminated Cloud 2 - IntelliJ IDEs Plugin | Marketplace

 

Project Setup and Development Environment

Project Setup

File -> New -> Project -> illuminated Cloud SFDX -> Click Generate Manifest ->  Create

 

Connect Sandbox

If there is an existing connection configured, click on the <Select> button of the Connection and then click on Ok. If you haven't previously established a connection, simply click on the Ok button.

 

If not, File -> Settings -> illuminated Cloud -> Click the globe icon -> Type Alias -> Login

 

Check for conflicts on deployment: If Dedicated Logins is selected, it shows you a warning message when deploying if your file version is behind the file saved in server.

Click your project and connect -> Ok.

 

Package.xml

It defines what to retrieve into your local.

Project folder -> manifest -> package.xml (If there's no file, you can manually create).

 

Reference: https://salesforcecodes.blogspot.com/2020/08/how-to-create-packagexml-to-retrieve-metadata.html

 

Retrieve Sources

Click the right button on the root folder -> Illuminated Cloud -> Retrieve Metadata