5 Must-Know ServiceNow Best Practices for Developers

Gaurav Tripathi
Jun 15
2 min read

ServiceNow developers are constantly looking for ways to enhance their productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness. Here are five essential best practices that every ServiceNow developer should know to streamline their workflows and achieve more reliable, scalable solutions.

1. Leverage Script Includes for Re-usability

Script Includes are a powerful way to maintain code re-usability and modularity in ServiceNow. Instead of writing repetitive scripts, encapsulate common functionalities within script includes. This approach promotes code reuse, easier maintenance, and significantly reduces the risk of bugs.

Example:

var IncidentUtils = Class.create();
IncidentUtils.prototype = {
  initialize: function() {},

  closeIncident: function(incidentId, closeNotes) {
    var gr = new GlideRecord('incident');
    if (gr.get(incidentId)) {
      gr.state = 7; // Closed
      gr.close_notes = closeNotes;
      gr.update();
    }
  },

  type: 'IncidentUtils'
};

2. Optimize Performance with GlideQuery

GlideQuery simplifies database queries and enhances performance. Unlike traditional GlideRecord queries, GlideQuery allows chaining methods to create concise and readable queries.

Example:

var incidents = new global.GlideQuery('incident')
  .where('priority', '>=', 2)
  .select('number', 'short_description')
  .limit(10)
  .toArray(10);

incidents.forEach(function(incident) {
  gs.info(incident.number + ': ' + incident.short_description);
});

3. Implement Robust Error Handling

Always ensure that your code gracefully handles errors to prevent unexpected system failures. Using structured error handling like try-catch blocks and logging error details can save hours during debugging.

Example:

try {
  var gr = new GlideRecord('incident');
  gr.addQuery('priority', 1);
  gr.query();
  while (gr.next()) {
    // Processing
  }
} catch (e) {
  gs.error('Error encountered: ' + e.message);
}

4. Automate Testing with Automated Test Framework (ATF)

ServiceNow's Automated Test Framework ensures reliability and consistency in your deployments. Creating automated tests for critical business scenarios ensures continuous quality assurance, reducing manual testing efforts significantly.

Key benefits:

Detect issues early
Ensure consistent behavior post-updates
Automate repetitive testing tasks

5. Leverage Flow Designer for Workflow Automation

Flow Designer provides a low-code approach to automate workflows efficiently. It helps developers create maintainable and clear business logic visually.

Benefits include: