To get the most out of this book

To get the most of out of this book, you will need to have a basic understanding of querying a database using basic SQL or having used a business intelligence tool in the past. If you have done planning, reporting, or analysis in Excel or another spreadsheet tool before, you will also have a good basis of understanding to get started with this book.

In the book, you will be using Tableau Desktop, Tableau Prep Builder, and the web interface of Tableau Server or Cloud. If you don’t already have a license for these products, you can download a free, 14-day trial of Tableau Desktop, Tableau Prep Builder, and Tableau Cloud from https://www.tableau.com/products/cloud-bi. The trial versions of the products are fully featured and can be used in all the exercises in the book. If you need to use the trial version, it is highly recommended that you don’t start the trial until you are ready to jump into the book as it only lasts for 14 days.

The files used in the book are found on the GitHub link found below. It is recommended to download all the files as a ZIP file before you start. The easiest way to do this is to click on the green <> Code button and select Download ZIP.

Software/hardware covered in the book	Operating system requirements
Access to Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud	Windows, macOS, or Linux
Tableau Desktop version 2022.2 or higher
Tableau Prep Builder version 2022.2 or higher

If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to type the code yourself or access the code from the book’s GitHub repository (a link is available in the next section). Doing so will help you avoid any potential errors related to the copying and pasting of code.