Flow or Apex? A practical rule we actually follow
The declarative-first principle is right, but taken too far it produces flows nobody can maintain. Here is where we draw the line.
“Declarative first” is good advice that gets applied dogmatically. We have inherited flows with forty elements and nested subflows that would have been thirty lines of readable Apex.
Our rule
Use Flow when the logic is something a competent admin could explain in a sentence. Reach for Apex when it needs a paragraph, a diagram, or a transaction boundary.
Why it matters commercially
The question is not which is technically possible — both usually are. It is who will maintain this in two years, and whether they will understand it.
An over-complex flow is worse than well-tested Apex, because it looks maintainable right up until it is not.
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