Salesforce Certified Identity and Access Management Practice

The selected response highlights the fundamental difference between access tokens and authorization codes in the OAuth 2.0 flow, particularly within the context of Salesforce. Access tokens serve as credentials allowing the client application to make authenticated requests on behalf of a user. They embody the permission granted by the user for the app to access specific resources. On the other hand, authorization codes are temporary credentials that are exchanged for access tokens. They are valid for a very short duration and ensure that the process of obtaining an access token is secure. While authorization codes play a crucial role in the initial stages of the authentication flow, their primary function is to authorize, not to make requests themselves. The actual interaction with Salesforce APIs for user data involves the use of access tokens, making the distinction clear. Understanding this difference is critical for implementing secure and effective authentication flows in applications using Salesforce. The focus on how tokens and codes are utilized clarifies their respective purposes.