My Salesforce book library has grown considerably over the last five years. What started out as a handful is now a vast library covering a range of topics from the functional to the mega-technical; so it would be criminal not to ask Santa to treat a loved one, a friend, your company or even yourself to one from our list:
Salesforce.com – Secrets of Salesforce Success (3rd Edition) – David Taber (@DavidTaber)
Not so much secrets, instead simple straight-talking 20 years of hard lessons wrapped into something which verges on acceptable bed time reading with your partner next to you.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salesforce-Com-Secrets-Success-Practices-Profitability/dp/013351739X
Development with Force.com Platform (3rd Edition) – Jason Ouellette
When you are ready to bridge declarative with actual development, then you are ready for Jason’s book! This was my very first Salesforce book which I bought and one I enjoy returning to regularly.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Development-Force-Com-Platform-Applications-Developers/dp/0321949161
Salesforce Handbook – Wes Nolte (@wesnolte) & Jeff Douglas (@jeffdonthemic)
Once you’re immersed in the developer side of the ecosystem, these chaps should surface very quickly as great resources. Their combined strengths put into a single resource which is very handy for validating anything you are working on quickly. Unfortunately the dog ate my original, but that didn’t stop me buying another hard copy.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salesforce-Handbook-Wes-Nolte/dp/1446108538
Force.com Developer Certification Handbook (Dev401) – Siddhesh Kabe (@SforceNinja)
Self-training can be hard at times, trudging through countless online guides, blogs, videos and so on, so it’s nice to be able to buy a physical book to complement your journey. So if revising for the developer certification over Xmas then drop this in your stocking; it can help you get over the line.
https://www.packtpub.com/application-development/forcecom-developer-certification-handbook-dev401
Advanced Apex Programming (2nd Edition) – Dan Appleman (@danappleman)
Thought you knew Apex? Well think again. This will scare you and open your mind in one fell swoop! Trust me, it highlights many bottlenecks in the platform, whilst stepping you through Dan’s awesome trigger framework to elevate you above these.
Salesforce CRM: The Definitive Admin Guide (3rd Edition) – Paul Goodey (@SetupForce)
Slightly biased about this one as I officially reviewed the 3rd edition which is due out soon. Salesforce is a huge system which is getting bigger with every release and it can be daunting to new entrants, hence definitive books like this one come into play.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salesforce-Crm-Definitive-Handbook-Edition/dp/1782170529
Visualforce Development Cookbook – Keir Bowden (@bob_buzzard)
Forget about buying Jamie Oliver’s latest. If there is one cookbook you get this year, make it this one. The big difference here is you will want to digest all these recipes and immediately start updating your org with Keir’s tried and tested solutions.
https://www.packtpub.com/application-development/visualforce-development-cookbook
Force.com Tips and Tricks – Abhinav Gupta (@abhinavguptas) & Ankit Arora (@forceguru)
Want to impress friends and family with your Salesforce knowledge over the holiday period? Then this one is for you. It serves up a quick memory jog on a range of features, both declarative and programmatic plus some tricks you don’t know.
https://www.packtpub.com/application-development/forcecom-tips-and-tricks
Developing Applications with Salesforce Chatter – Rakesh Gupta (@rakeshistom) & Sagar Pareek (@sagarjaipareek)
Chatter is the collaborative glue of the Salesforce1 platform, which we know just works. It’s a platform in its own right and has its own set of APIs. Rakesh and Sagar gently peel back the covers and introduce some modifications which can help you to drive Chatter adoption and build unique applications centred around Chatter.
https://www.packtpub.com/application-development/developing-applications-salesforce-chatter
Force.com Development Blueprints – Stephen Moss (@bladexr8)
A recent addition to my library but a new favourite, one of the few books and maybe the only book which takes you into the mobile SDK territory plus a range of topics and frameworks not normally covered in books like building out a community.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Force-com-Development-Blueprints-Stephen-Moss/dp/1782172459/
Force.com Enterprise Architecture – Andrew Fawcett (@andyinthecloud)
Last up is the perfect gift for all those budding ISVs out there as Andrew takes you on a journey from inception all the way through to publishing an application on the AppExchange with a ton of cool frameworks which his company have kindly opened-sourced for the masses.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Force-com-Enterprise-Architecture-Andrew-Fawcett/dp/1782172998
I’m not suggesting to buy all these books in one go, but take this knowledge on board and pick up the ones you like the sound of: you may just change your Salesforce life forever!
There are plenty more out there and in the pipeline so until next Christmas – #HappyHols!