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Lesson 6 of 18 · 8–12 min

Field Types and Data Quality

A field type defines validation, storage, user input, querying, reporting, and integration behavior.

Learning sequence · data model first, security layers next
  1. What CRM and Salesforce Do
  2. The Salesforce Ecosystem and Major Clouds
  3. Org, App, Object, Field, and Record
  4. Standard and Custom Objects
  5. Common Standard Objects
  6. Field Types and Data Quality
  7. Objects, Fields & Records
  8. Lookup vs Master-Detail
  9. Many-to-Many Relationships and Junction Objects
  10. Profiles, Permission Sets & Object Access
  11. Field-Level Security
  12. OWD and Least-Privilege Record Access
  13. Opening Access: Role Hierarchy, Sharing Rules, Public Groups & Apex Sharing
  14. Apex First Steps
  15. Variables and Collections
  16. SOQL and DML Basics
  17. Why Asynchronous Apex Exists
  18. REST Callout Introduction

Your focus

Start Your Salesforce Career

FULL · Learn • Apply

  • Choose accurate field types for common requirements.

Learning objective

Choose field types from business meaning and explain calculated, selectable, and relationship values.

The concept

Text, number, currency, percent, date, date/time, checkbox, picklist, formula, roll-up summary, lookup, and master-detail fields serve different semantics. Picklists constrain choices; formulas calculate at read time; roll-up summaries aggregate eligible child records; relationship fields connect records.

Worked example

Use Currency for Contract Value, Date for Renewal Date, Picklist for Status, Formula for Days Remaining, and a relationship for the owning Account.

Define meaning, valid values, precision, time zone behavior, editability, and reporting needs. Then choose the narrowest type that represents the value truthfully.

Choose by meaning

  1. 1.Business value

  2. 2.Entered

  3. 3.Calculated

  4. 4.Related record

  • Business value connects to Entered
  • Business value connects to Calculated
  • Business value connects to Related record

Common mistake

Storing dates or numeric values in text fields because initial import data is messy.

Interview angle

Explain how type choice affects validation, formulas, reporting, integrations, and future migrations.

Pause and apply

Why is a picklist often safer than free text for a workflow status?

Official references

Reviewed 2026-09-23. Examples are illustrative; no code is executed here.

Key takeaways

  • Choose types by semantics, not sample data.
  • Field type decisions affect the whole platform.

Practice next

No linked assessment is available for this lesson. Use the pause-and-apply question to check your reasoning.

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