About Force.com

Force.com development

The core process of development involved in traditional software is the same with
Force.com. The Force.com platform offers many tools used to define data, business
process, logic, and rich UI for the business application. Many of these tools are
built-in, point-and-click tools simplified for native users without any development
skills. Any user can build applications suitable to their business without a single
line of code.

The point-and-click tools are easy to use, but they have limitations and control. To
extend the platform beyond these limitations, we use Apex and Visualforce.
Let us now compare the tools used for traditional software development and
Force.com:

Multi-tenant kernel for Cloud Computing

Multi-tenant kernel for Cloud Computing

The base of the platform forms a multi-tenant kernel, where all users share a
common codebase and physical infrastructure. The multiple tenants, who are hosted
on a shared server, share the resources under governor limits to prevent a single
instance monopolizing the resources. The custom code and data are separated by
software virtualization and users cannot access each other's code.

The multi-tenant kernel ensures that all instances are updated to the latest version
of the software simultaneously. The updates are applied automatically without any
patches or software download.


The multi-tenant architecture is already live for one million users. This helps
developers easily scale the applications from one to a million users with little or no
modification. The following image illustrates the multi-tenant architecture:

Traditional software systems are hosted on a single-tenant system, usually a

client-server based enterprise application. With the multi-tenant architecture, the

end-user does not have to worry about the hardware layer or software upgrade and

patches. The software system deployed over the Internet can be accessed using a

browser from any location possible, even wide ranges of mobile devices.

The multi-tenant architecture also allows the applications to be low cost, quick to

deploy, and open to innovation. Other examples of software using multi-tenant

architecture are webmail systems such as www.Gmail.com, www.Yahoo.com, and

online storage systems such as www.Dropbox.com, or note-taking applications such

as Evernote, Springpad, and so on.

Model-View-Controller architecture

Model-View-Controller architecture

The key to building any successful business application is a powerful yet loosely
coupled Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. The MVC architecture ensures
that we separate the complex business logic from the UI and the database. This
loosely coupled system also helps working in a team. It is also easy to upgrade part
of the system without disturbing the entire structure. The following figure illustrates
the model-view-controller of Force.com:

The cloud computing model

The cloud computing model of Force.com

• Multi-tenant architecture
• Automatic upgrades
• Subscription model
• Scalability
• Upgrades and maintenance