20 Salesforce SOQL Interview Questions and Answers

Salesforce SOQL is a powerful query language that lets you access data in Salesforce. If you’re applying for a job that involves Salesforce, you’re likely to encounter SOQL questions in your interview. Knowing how to answer these questions can help you impress the hiring manager and improve your chances of getting the job. In this article, we discuss some common SOQL questions and how you should answer them.

Salesforce SOQL Interview Questions and Answers

Here are 20 commonly asked Salesforce SOQL interview questions and answers to prepare you for your interview:

1. What is SOQL?

SOQL is the Salesforce Object Query Language. It is used to query data from Salesforce objects.

2. Can you explain the syntax of a basic SOQL query?

A SOQL query is made up of a few different parts. The first is the SELECT clause, which is used to specify which fields you want to retrieve data from. The FROM clause is used to specify which object you want to retrieve data from. The WHERE clause is used to specify any conditions that the data must meet. The ORDER BY clause is used to specify how you want the data to be sorted.

3. How do you select all fields from an object using SOQL?

You can select all fields from an object by using the “*” wildcard in your SOQL query. For example, the following query would return all fields from the “Account” object:

SELECT * FROM Account

4. Is it possible to use multiple where conditions in one SOQL statement? If yes, then how?

Yes, it is possible to use multiple where conditions in one SOQL statement. You can do this by using the “AND” or “OR” operators between your conditions. For example:

WHERE (condition1 OR condition2) AND condition3

5. Which operator can be used to combine two or more criteria while writing a SOQL query?

The “AND” operator can be used to combine two or more criteria while writing a SOQL query.

6. What are subqueries and inner queries in context with SOQL?

Subqueries are queries that are embedded within another SOQL query. An inner query is a subquery that is used to retrieve data from the same object that is being queried by the outer query.

7. What’s the difference between parent-child relationships and lookup relationships?

Parent-child relationships are when one object is the parent of another object, and the child object cannot exist without the parent object. Lookup relationships are when one object has a reference to another object, but the child object can exist without the parent object.

8. How do you access data across objects using SOQL?

You can access data across objects using SOQL by using a subquery. A subquery is a query that is nested inside of another query. The outer query is known as the parent query, and the inner query is known as the child query. The child query can access data from any object that is accessible to the parent query.

9. What is the maximum number of records that can be returned by a single SOQL query?

The maximum number of records that can be returned by a single SOQL query is 100,000.

10. What happens if we exceed the limit for records in a single SOQL query?

If you exceed the limit for records in a single SOQL query, then the query will fail and you will not be able to retrieve any data.

11. What are some common errors that occur when running SOQL statements?

Some common errors that can occur when running SOQL statements include: forgetting to include a semi-colon at the end of the query, forgetting to close parentheses, using an invalid field name, and using an invalid object name.

12. How does bulkification help reduce SOQL errors?

Bulkification is the process of ensuring that your code can handle large data sets by making efficient use of the Salesforce database. This is important because SOQL errors can occur when code attempts to query too much data at once. By bulkifying your code, you can help reduce the chances of these errors occurring.

13. Is there any way to check the current status of our active DML operations? If yes, then how?

Yes, there is a way to check the status of active DML operations in Salesforce. You can do this by checking the AsyncApexJob object. This object contains information about all asynchronous Apex jobs, including information about the status of the job.

14. How do you perform SOQL queries on related objects?

You can perform SOQL queries on related objects by using a subquery. A subquery is a query that is nested inside of another query. In order to perform a subquery on a related object, you need to first query the parent object. From there, you can use the parent object’s ID field to query the related object.

15. What are the different types of relationship queries available in Salesforce?

There are four different types of relationship queries available in Salesforce:

1. Parent-to-Child: This type of query returns all of the child records for a given parent record.

2. Child-to-Parent: This type of query returns all of the parent records for a given child record.

3. Sibling: This type of query returns all records that are related to the same parent record.

4. Self: This type of query returns a record and all of its child records.

16. What is SOSL? When should it be preferred over SOQL?

SOSL is the Salesforce Object Search Language. It is used to search for data across all objects, regardless of whether they are related to each other or not. SOSL should be used when you need to search for data across multiple objects simultaneously.

17. What’s the difference between static and dynamic SOQL queries?

Static SOQL queries are written in advance and are not able to be changed at runtime. Dynamic SOQL queries, on the other hand, are built at runtime and can be changed as needed. This makes dynamic SOQL queries more flexible, but also more difficult to debug.

18. What are the limitations of SOQL queries?

The main limitation of SOQL queries is that they can only be used to query data from a single object at a time. This means that if you want to query data from multiple objects, you will need to use multiple SOQL queries. Additionally, SOQL queries can only be used to query data that is already stored in Salesforce, and cannot be used to query data from external sources.

19. What are some best practices to follow when using SOQL?

Some best practices to follow when using SOQL include:

– Use bind variables to avoid SOQL injection attacks
– Use the LIMIT keyword to limit the number of records returned
– Use the OFFSET keyword to skip a certain number of records
– Use the ORDER BY keyword to sort the records
– Use the WHERE keyword to filter the records

20. What is the best tool to run SOQL queries?

The best tool to run SOQL queries is the Salesforce Developer Console.