Salesforce releases 3 times/year. New features, behavior changes, deprecations affect orgs.
Approach:
1. Pre-release sandbox.
- Sandboxes upgraded to new release before production.
- Test for 4-8 weeks.
2. Read release notes.
- Identify changes affecting your org.
- Categorize: new features, behavior changes, deprecations, fixes.
3. Inventory affected code.
- Apex classes / triggers using deprecated patterns.
- LWC / Aura affected by Lightning Web Security changes.
- Integrations affected by API changes.
4. Run regression suite.
- Automated tests against new release sandbox.
- Identify breakages.
5. Manual exploration.
- Focus on new features.
- Verify compatibility.
6. Performance comparison.
- Are pages still as fast?
- Bulk operations still meeting targets?
7. Defect log.
- Track release-induced defects.
- Coordinate fixes before production rolls.
8. Production rollout.
- Salesforce releases to production on its own schedule.
- Re-verify after production update.
Specific things to check each release:
- Trigger frameworks against new platform.
- Lightning Locker -> LWS compatibility.
- API version impacts.
- Picklist value changes.
- Deprecated feature behavior.
- New AI / Agentforce capabilities.
Common pitfalls:
- Skipping pre-release testing — defects in production.
- No release notes review — surprised by changes.
- Insufficient regression — silent breakages.
Senior QA insight: Salesforce releases are predictable but consequential. Treat them as quarterly testing events.
The senior framing: release testing is preventive. Catches issues before they affect users.