What are Flows In Salesforce in 2023?

A flow is a Salesforce application that collects data and performs actions in your Salesforce org or an external system. To automate a business process that collects data from people, use a screen flow.

A flow automates difficult business procedures. In other words, it gathers data and uses the data for our business logic. One of the most effective tools in your automation process as a Salesforce administrator is flows.

The declarative interface used to construct individual flows is called Flow Builder. You can create code-like reasoning with Flow Builder without requiring a programming language.

Different types of Flows:

Screen flows.
Schedule-triggered flows.
Auto-launched flows.
Record-triggered flows.
Platform Event-triggered flows.

Don't forget to check out: All About Record-Triggered Flows in Salesforce | The Salesforce Trailhead Guide

When/Why Should I use a flow?

To answer this question, we really need to look into what automation is needed. In most cases, the type of automation to use for a specific process is determined by evaluating where the data for the processes originates from and where it needs to go. Consider whether what you need to accomplish is best handled by a flow, workflow field update, or a process.

Flows are able to create, edit, and delete any record passed into the flow. Records do not have to be related in order to pass data in a flow. Flows can also be scheduled to run on a set interval with a collection of records.
The workflow field update can write data to the same record that invoked the workflow rule, or to the master record of a master-detail relationship on the record that invoked the rule. Workflow rules are not able to create, edit, or delete records.
Processes, created in the Process Builder, can write data to the same record that invoked the process, or to records related by either lookup or master-detail relationships. Processes can also create records, but they cannot delete them. Processes also cannot query records unrelated to the invoking record.

How can I make a flow in Salesforce?

From setup, open flow Builder, by searching Flows in the Quick Find Box
Click on New Flow
Select a flow type, and Create New Flow
Flow builder has many elements in the element Section. Use those elements and build your business logic
Connect the elements to define the order of execution
After that, Save the flow and activate

Don't forget to check out: Record-Triggered Flows in Salesforce - A Short Guide

Elements Of Flows

There are different types of elements given:

Interaction elements
Logic elements
Data elements

Interaction Elements

Screen: The user interfaces for the flow screen. Information might be displayed on the screen or data about the user can be received through its use. This component is only present in Screen Flows.
Actions: External actions known as "actions" help the flow's functionality grow. Examples of action include Apex, sending emails, etc.
Sub Flow: One flow may start another.

Logic elements

Decision: Divide the flow into parts with the help of data delivered to the decision statement.
Loop: Repeated tasks done by the loop.
Assignment: Assign or transfer the value of one variable into another variable.