Choosing Between Custom Settings, Custom Metadata, and Custom Objects
By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to:
- Apply a clear decision process for picking among the three data-storage options
- Justify a choice for a given real scenario
- Recognize that this decision mirrors Module 16's List vs Set vs Map process
Prerequisites: "Custom Metadata Types"
The decision process
Ask these questions in order:
- Does it need to deploy alongside code, staying in sync across environments? → Custom metadata.
- Is it configuration that changes occasionally through Setup, read frequently, and doesn't need to deploy with code? → Custom setting (list, or hierarchy if it needs per-profile/user overrides).
- Otherwise — is it real, everyday transactional business data? → A regular custom object.
Working through real scenarios
- "Discount rules that must be identical and tested together across sandbox and production." → Custom metadata (deployability is the deciding factor).
- "A feature flag an admin might flip for testing without a deployment." → Hierarchy custom setting (changes occasionally, no deployment needed, might vary by profile).
- "Every customer order placed today." → Custom object (real, constantly-changing transactional data — exactly
Warehouse_Stock__corCheckout__cfrom earlier projects).
This decision mirrors Module 16's collection choice
This is the same shape of decision as Module 16's List vs Set vs Map process — a short, ordered set of questions turning "which one?" from a guess into a quick, confident answer, based on what the data actually needs (deployability, read pattern, or transactional volume) rather than habit or whichever option comes to mind first.
Exercise
As comments, choose custom setting, custom metadata, or custom object for each: (1) a list of every open Case, (2) tax rates that must ship identically with a pricing-engine deployment, (3) a per-user setting for how many records to show per page.
Show hint
Apply the three-question decision process to each.
Choosing Between Custom Settings, Custom Metadata, and Custom Objects Quiz
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Summary
A short decision process turns "which data structure fits?" into a confident choice among custom settings, custom metadata, and custom objects — mirroring the same kind of decision Module 16 taught for collections.