Developer Console
By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to:
- Open the Developer Console from any Salesforce org
- Locate the Execute Anonymous window and the log panel
- Create and save a new Apex class from the Developer Console
Prerequisites: "What Is Apex?"
Opening it
From inside any Salesforce org, click the gear icon (Setup) in the top right, and choose Developer Console from the dropdown. It opens in a new window — a self-contained IDE that runs entirely in your browser, talking directly to your org.
What's actually in there
Three panels matter most while you're learning:
- File menu → New → Apex Class — creates a real Apex class saved directly to your org.
- Debug → Open Execute Anonymous Window — runs a throwaway snippet of Apex immediately, without saving a class. This is what you used in the previous lesson's exercise.
- The Logs tab (bottom panel) — every time you run something, a log appears here. Double-click it to read what actually happened, line by line.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting to check "Open Log" before running Execute Anonymous — if unchecked, you run code but never see what it did.
- Not scrolling far enough in a log — the line you care about (like your
System.debugoutput) is often buried under a lot of framework noise. The next lesson on reading debug logs covers how to filter this.
Exercise
Open the Developer Console in any org you have access to. Create a new Apex class called Greeter with a static method sayHi() that debugs a message. Save it, then call it from Execute Anonymous.
Show hint
File > New > Apex Class in the Developer Console's top menu.
Developer Console Quiz
Leaderboard
- 1. Monde Masiza 2/2
My Notes
Log in to keep private notes on this lesson.
Questions about this lesson
No questions yet — be the first to ask.
Log in to ask a question about this lesson.
Summary
The Developer Console is Salesforce's built-in, browser-based tool for writing Apex, running quick snippets, and reading debug logs — the fastest way to experiment while you're learning, even though professional teams do most real development in VS Code (next lesson).