SF-PD2 Performance Practice Question
A developer is writing a batch Apex class to process 50,000 Account records. To ensure optimal performance and avoid hitting governor limits, which strategy should be implemented regarding DML operations?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often perform DML inside the loop, which is a common error that leads to hitting the 150 DML statement governor limit when processing large batches of records.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Collect modified records into a List and perform a single DML operation after the loop.
Batch Apex should always perform DML operations outside of the loop iterating over the scope records. By collecting records in a List and performing a single DML operation after the loop finishes, the developer significantly reduces the number of DML statements consumed. This pattern is critical for scalability in Salesforce, as it prevents hitting the 150 DML limit per transaction while maximizing bulkification efficiency.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Perform DML operations inside the loop to ensure immediate data updates.
Why it's wrong here
Executing DML statements inside a loop is a primary cause of governor limit exceptions. Salesforce restricts DML operations to 150 per transaction. Repeatedly calling DML statements for every record processed will quickly exhaust this limit, causing the batch job to fail prematurely for large datasets.
- ✗
Call the Database.update() method for every individual record in the scope.
Why it's wrong here
Calling database methods on individual records within the loop mirrors the behavior of standard DML statements. This approach fails to bulkify the operations, leading to excessive limit consumption. Even when using the Database class, you must collect records into a list before processing them.
- ✓
Collect modified records into a List and perform a single DML operation after the loop.
Why this is correct
Bulkifying DML operations by collecting records into a list and performing one update statement after the loop is a best practice. This approach minimizes the total number of DML statements used per batch execution, staying well within governor limits and significantly improving overall processing time.
- ✗
Use the Future method to update each record asynchronously.
Why it's wrong here
Using @future methods to update records within a batch process introduces unnecessary complexity and potential concurrency bottlenecks. Furthermore, @future methods have their own strict limits regarding the number of asynchronous calls per transaction, which could lead to limit exhaustion just as quickly as synchronous DML.
About these practice questions
This SF-PD2 question is part of Courseiva's 226-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Salesforce exam blueprint
This SF-PD2 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Salesforce certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SF-PD2 exam.