Visualforce
Visualforce is Salesforce's legacy markup language for building custom user interfaces.
Definition
Visualforce is Salesforce's legacy markup language for building custom user interfaces. It uses a tag-based syntax similar to HTML and can be paired with Apex controllers to create pages with custom layouts, logic, and data access. While still supported, Salesforce recommends Lightning Web Components for new development.
In plain English
“Here's a simple way to think about it: Visualforce is the legacy UI framework that won't go away yet. Tag-based markup, paired with Apex controllers - the way custom UIs were built before Lightning Web Components. Still supported, increasingly archaic.”
Worked example
A developer at Heritage Insurance maintains a Visualforce page that generates a printable PDF quote for clients. The page uses a custom Apex controller to pull Opportunity and Product data, formats it into a professional layout with the company logo, and renders it as a downloadable PDF when the sales rep clicks "Generate Quote."
Why Visualforce is the legacy UI framework that won't go away yet
Visualforce was Salesforce's original UI markup language - a tag-based syntax similar to HTML, paired with Apex controllers, used for building custom pages with their own logic and layout. For years, it was the only way to build custom Salesforce UIs. Lightning Web Components has long since superseded it for new development, but Visualforce pages still ship in many orgs and many managed packages.
The reason Visualforce hasn't disappeared despite being legacy is migration cost and feature parity for specific use cases. Visualforce excels at PDF generation, certain forms of email composition, and some print-format scenarios where Lightning's component model doesn't fit naturally. New work should default to Lightning Web Components; existing Visualforce should be maintained where it works and migrated when the cost of migration is lower than the cost of continuing maintenance. Don't write new Visualforce in 2026 unless you have a specific reason; don't rewrite existing Visualforce just because it's older.
How organizations use Visualforce
Maintained Visualforce-based PDF generation for invoice templates; the right tool for that specific use case despite being legacy.
Migrated 80% of Visualforce pages to LWC over a year; remaining pages have specific reasons to stay.
Trust & references
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Visualforce.
- Visualforce Developer GuideSalesforce Developers
Test your knowledge
Q1. What is required before deploying Visualforce-related code to production?
Q2. What skill set is typically needed to work with Visualforce?
Q3. Where would a developer typically work with Visualforce?
Discussion
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