Introduction
Salesforce has become a powerful platform in the world of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and at the heart of Salesforce lies – SOQL : Salesforce Object Query Language.
SOQL is an important tool for querying data in Salesforce environment. Whether you are a developer, an administrator or a technical consultant, understanding SOQL is very important for efficiently retrieving or manipulating data.
If you are preparing for Salesforce interview, then mastering SOQL is non-negotiable.
In this blog, we will explore some of the most commonly asked SOQL interview questions.
So lets dive in and get you one step closer to landing your next Salesforce role.
What is SOQL? And how does it differ from SQL?
- SOQL (Salesforce Object Query Language) is used to query salesforce objects. Unlike SQL, which is used for querying relational databases like (Oracle).
- SOQL is specifically designed to work for Salesforce which does not support functions like JOIN. However SQL supports functions like JOIN.
Write a basic SOQL query to fetch all the records from an object in Salesforce ?
select id, name from ObjectName
Please note: * function is not supported in SOQL.
How can you filter records using SOQL?
By using WHERE clause, we can filter records.
select id, name from Account where Industry = 'Technology'
What is the use of LIMIT clause in SOQL?
LIMIT clause is used to restrict the number of records returned by a query.
select id, name from Account LIMIT 10
What are aggregate functions? Can you use them in SOQL?
In Salesforce we have aggregate functions like: COUNT(), SUM(), MIN(), MAX() and AVG().
And yes, we can use aggregate functions in SOQL :
select COUNT(id) from Account;
6. What are relationship SOQL queries in Salesforce?
Relationship SOQL Queries in Salesforce are used to fetch related records from objects that have defined relationships, such as parent-child or child-to-parent.
Types of Relationship Queries:
1. From Child-to-Parent (Using dot notation):
- •Fetches parent record details from the child object.
- •Example:
Retrieves the Name of the contact and the related parent Account name.
SELECT Name, Account.Name FROM Contact
2. From Parent to Child
- Fetches child records for a Parent object.
- Example:
Retrieves the Name of the account and the LastName of related contacts.
SELECT Name, (SELECT LastName FROM Contacts) FROM Account
7. What is subquery in SOQL, and how would you use one?
A subquery is a query nested inside another query, often used while writing relationship queries.
Example:
SELECT Name, (SELECT LastName FROM Contacts WHERE Email = 'contact@writtee.com') FROM Account
8. How can you optimise a SOQL for better performance?
We can optimise a long running SOQL statement by using below ways:
- Use selective filters in WHERE clause.
- Reduce the number of fields returned.
- Ensure indexes are being used effectively.
9. What is the significance of using WITH SECURITY_ENFORCED keyword?
WITH SECURITY_ENFORCED keyword ensures that the query only returns records that the user is allowed to see.
That means – by using WITH SECURITY_ENFORCED keyword, we can enforce field and object level security in SOQL.
Please check the blog post below, where I have explained how to use WITH SECURITY_ENFORCED keyword with an example.
10. Write a SOQL to get all the Account records with contact.
select Id, Name, (select id, firstName, lastName from Contact) from Account
