Standard Objects
By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to:
- Explain what a standard object is and name several common ones
- Reference a standard object and its fields in Apex
- Recognize that standard objects come built into every Salesforce org
Prerequisites: Module 17: "Project: Employee Management"
What a standard object is
Every Salesforce org comes pre-loaded with a set of common business objects: Account (companies or organizations), Contact (individual people), Opportunity (a potential sale), Case (a customer support issue), and many more. These are standard objects — Salesforce defines their structure, and they're available immediately in every org, with no setup required.
Referencing a standard object in Apex
Account acc = new Account();
acc.Name = 'Acme Logistics';
acc.Industry = 'Transportation';
System.debug(acc.Name); // "Acme Logistics"Account behaves like any class you've written yourself — new Account() creates one, and its fields (Name, Industry, and many more) are accessed with the same dot notation from Module 10. The difference is that Salesforce defined this class's shape, not you.
A tour of common standard objects
| Object | Represents |
|---|---|
Account |
A company or organization |
Contact |
An individual person, usually linked to an Account |
Opportunity |
A potential or in-progress sale |
Case |
A customer support issue |
Lead |
A potential customer not yet qualified |
User |
A person who logs into Salesforce |
These aren't the only standard objects, but they're the ones you'll encounter constantly in real Apex code across almost any Salesforce org.
Exercise
Create an Account in memory (not saved to the database) with a Name and an Industry, then debug both fields.
Show hint
Account acc = new Account(); acc.Name = ...;
Standard Objects Quiz
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Summary
A standard object is a data structure Salesforce provides out of the box in every org — Account, Contact, Opportunity, and dozens more — ready to use without any setup.