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From the Publisher About the author Alberto Ferrari and Marco Russo are the founders of sqlbi.com, where they regularly publish articles about Microsoft Power Pivot, Power BI, DAX, and SQL Server Analysis Services. Both Ferrari and Russo provide consultancy and mentoring on business intelligence (BI). They are also frequent speakers at major international conferences, including Microsoft Ignite, PASS Summit, and SQLBits. Who is this for? If you are a casual user of DAX, then this book is probably not the best choice for you. Many books provide a simple introduction to the tools that implement DAX and to the DAX language itself, starting from the ground up and reaching a basic level of DAX programming. We know this very well, because we wrote some of those books, too! If, on the other hand, you are serious about DAX and you really want to understand every detail of this beautiful language, then this is your book. This might be your first book about DAX; in that case you should not expect to benefit from the most advanced topics too early. We suggest you read the book from cover to cover and then read the most complex parts again, once you have gained some experience; it is very likely that some concepts will become clearer at that point. What can readers expect to learn? When we decided it was time to update this book, we thought it would be an easy job: After all, not many things have changed in the DAX language, and the theoretical core of the book was still very good. We believed the focus would mainly be on updating the screenshots from Excel to Power BI, adding a few touch-ups here and there, and we would be done. How wrong we were! We increased the number of examples for this edition, showing practical uses of the functionalities after teaching the theoretical foundation of DAX. We tried to use a simpler style, without compromising on precision. We fought with the editor to increase the page count, as this was needed to cover all the topics we wanted to share. Nevertheless, we did not change the leitmotif of the book: we assume no previous knowledge of DAX, even though this is not a book for the casual DAX developer. This is a book for people who really want to learn the language and gain a deep understanding of the power and complexity of DAX. Yes, if you want to leverage the real power of DAX, you need to be prepared for a long journey with us, reading the book from cover to cover, and then reading it again, searching for the many details that—at first sight—are not obvious. Review: Love the content. Love the style. This is within arms reach any time I am working with DAX. - Looked into this because it was recommended by Maven Analytics whose training vids are awesome. I love this book. Great for learning and for a reference tool. I appreciate that they really stress learning the underlying concepts/theory instead of just giving cookie cutter patterns to use. Review: Excellent Resource! - I love this book! The authors know their audience. It's written in such a way that the reader feels as though they're being taught by instructors. They give helpful learning tips along the way and know when a certain topic is especially difficult. For example, at the end of a certain arduous chapter, the conclusion starts, "In this final section of a long and difficult chapter..." Upon completion, it is easy to go back and use as a guide for specific topics as they arise.
| Best Sellers Rank | #79,314 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1 in Microsoft SQL Server #18 in Microsoft Excel Guides #22 in Spreadsheet Books |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 1,591 Reviews |
D**N
Love the content. Love the style. This is within arms reach any time I am working with DAX.
Looked into this because it was recommended by Maven Analytics whose training vids are awesome. I love this book. Great for learning and for a reference tool. I appreciate that they really stress learning the underlying concepts/theory instead of just giving cookie cutter patterns to use.
S**S
Excellent Resource!
I love this book! The authors know their audience. It's written in such a way that the reader feels as though they're being taught by instructors. They give helpful learning tips along the way and know when a certain topic is especially difficult. For example, at the end of a certain arduous chapter, the conclusion starts, "In this final section of a long and difficult chapter..." Upon completion, it is easy to go back and use as a guide for specific topics as they arise.
J**O
Essential DAX material
The book arrived in pristine package and I have been using this to navigate DAX
A**R
Damaged binding
Great book content-wise, but I bought it new and the binding is damaged, corners are bent, and some pages are creased. Should have just purchased a used copy.
S**O
Now I really know what's happening under the hood
This was a really important book for my understanding of Dax formulas. I watched a lot of videos online, and forums can often give you formulas that will solve your problem but I never fully understood what was happening. I feel very confident now after reading this book. I can visualize what is happening with my model and it has made writing Dax much easier. I'm not saying that I'm an expert or that it's easy now, but I know how it works and the functions that are available to me. If you really want to know what's happening, this is the book for you.
A**.
Excellent Book
This book is really helpful in breaking down the complexity of each function into clear explanations & examples. Thank you so much for the authors. I'm really happy with my purchase
R**F
Amazing Book
I have been reading this book for 5 months. I am not finished. I spend a half hour every day. Marco Russo and Alberto Ferrari are teachers and very good ones. There is so much effort put into this book it feels like they actually care about you and your DAX journey. I have gotten so much out of this book. Though I can't say that I truly understand it. Yet I see that my DAX has improved quite a bit. With many mysteries still remaining. I am just an average person trying to be a bit above average and I thank the authors for helping me in my quest. I highly recommend this book. Though if I were starting off from scratch I would read Matt Allington's book Supercharge Power BI and possibly Power Pivot and Power BI by Rob Collie and Avichal Singh though that book is a bit older. In summation: my lack of understanding is my issue, the book itself is extremely comprehensive and well written. So I will continue on my DAX journey and hopefully will continue to improve as I make my way through the final 3rd of the book.
A**S
The most holy text of the DAX religion...
Reading this book makes me realize how little I know about the things I thought I knew. I've been writing DAX for years, having started with PowerPivot (no spaces in the name, that's how old) for Excel 2010, and in my job I still find new, interesting problems to solve. This book is an amazing reference for anyone interested in pushing the calculation envelope in DAX and their models. I've built models spanning billions of records with the expert guidance this book provides. I would almost consider this a holy book of the DAX religion. If you ever wanted someone to explain why god created CALCULATE() and how we should observe it daily in our lives, this is the book, and the Italians preach adeptly. I'm a big believer, and you will be too.
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