Definitive Guide to DAX, The

Now expanded and updated with modern best practices, this is the most complete guide to Microsofts DAX language for business intelligence, data modeling, and analytics. Expert Microsoft BI consultants Marco Russo and Alberto Ferrari help you master everything from table functions through advanced code and model optimization. Youll learn exactly what happens under the hood when you run a DAX expression, and use this knowledge to write fast, robust code. This edition focuses on examples you can build and run with the free Power BI Desktop, and helps you make the most of the powerful syntax of variables (VAR) in Power BI, Excel, or Analysis Services. Want to leverage all of DAXs remarkable capabilities? This no-compromise deep dive is exactly what you need.

Perform powerful data analysis with DAX for Power BI, SQL Server, and Excel

   Master core DAX concepts, including calculated columns, measures, and calculation groups

   Work efficiently with basic and advanced table functions

   Understand evaluation contexts and the CALCULATE and CALCULATETABLE functions

   Perform time-based calculations

   Use calculation groups and calculation items

   Use syntax of variables (VAR) to write more readable, maintainable code

   Express diverse and unusual relationships with DAX, including many-to-many relationships and bidirectional filters

   Master advanced optimization techniques, and improve performance in aggregations

   Optimize data models to achieve better compression

   Measure DAX query performance with DAX Studio and learn how to optimize your DAX