Is It Really Opinion-Based, Though?

Question

One of my recent posts garnered a lot of attention. We had several new users join our exchange just to comment on it.

In asking the above question, I wanted to know how a somewhat popular topic fits in with the multi-tenant architecture. I notice that the analogous question on Stack Overflow is not considered Primarily Opinion-Based.

Some of the flak received for that post was from a clearly disgruntled Christian Strempfer:

Why did you ask a question which is not SalesForce related, even though you knew it's already answered on StackOverflow?

So his only two contributions to our exchange so far are to:

1. Leave an angry comment.
2. Flag my post.

I can see why, on face value, the post seems opinion-based. But that doesn't seem to be why he flagged it. And I really do believe it to be based on fact and observation, rather than opinion. There are clearly many rigorous arguments for and against, and the discussion has been lively and focused. Very few "opinions" have been offered, but rather solid analyses.

Is the question really Primarily Opinion-Based?

Answer 1

Have been out of pocket for a couple days and missed all the activity. I don't feel the question is entirely opinion based; particularly after reading through the responses. In fact, I intend to add my own thoughts based on my experience and observations to the thread once it's reopened.

I think it's very relevant to Salesforce for several reasons.

1. Exceptions in general, are poorly documented.
2. Which methods will throw what kinds of exceptions isn't documented at all.
3. Conceptually, exactly what an exception represents in terms of the database one isn't explained in any of the documentation or Salesforce tutorials.
4. While methods are shown to "catch" an exception in the documentation, since many don't understand what they've "caught", they need help understanding what's appropriate for "handling" it.
5. The latter is something which can vary enormously depending on the type of exception and the context in which it's thrown, but can also be critical to the integrity of an org's database.

To me, the above makes this discussion very relevant to Salesforce and it's multi-tennant architecture, particularly since Apex isn't a language that generally taught outside the context of this platform. The latter means that many of those who are writing it may not have an extensive OOP based formal CIS education where these subjects are taught in depth.