Intermediate 15 min read

What Is SOQL?

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to:

  • Write a basic SOQL query with SELECT, WHERE, ORDER BY, and LIMIT
  • Recognize inline SOQL syntax inside Apex

Prerequisites: String and Collection Methods

Inline SOQL

Apex lets you embed a SOQL query directly in your code using square brackets — this is called an inline query. It returns a List of the sObject type you selected:

List<Account> accounts = [
    SELECT Id, Name, Industry
    FROM Account
    WHERE Industry = 'Technology'
    ORDER BY Name ASC
    LIMIT 10
];

WHERE filters records, ORDER BY sorts them, and LIMIT caps how many come back — all familiar if you've used SQL before, with some Salesforce-specific extensions like relationship queries.

A filtered, sorted, limited query

SELECT Id, Name, Industry
FROM Account
WHERE Industry = 'Technology'
ORDER BY Name ASC
LIMIT 10

Exercise

Write a SOQL query that returns the Id and Name of every Contact whose LastName is 'Smith'.

Show hint

SELECT Id, Name FROM Contact WHERE LastName = 'Smith'

SOQL

SOQL Basics — Quick Check

1. Which clause limits the number of records a SOQL query returns?

2. SOQL can traverse relationships using dot notation, such as selecting Account.Name from a Contact query.

3. What do square brackets [ ] indicate in Apex?

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Summary

SOQL (Salesforce Object Query Language) is how Apex reads data. Inline queries are written directly in square brackets inside your Apex code and return a List of sObjects.

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