Introduction

DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) is actually a combination of two languages. It is fundamentally a simple expression language, consisting of functions that work very much like Excel functions, which return either values or objects that can be used by other functions. Additionally, DAX is also a query language that can be used to execute requests for a Tabular semantic model and return an entire result set for use by a reporting tool or application to display data. DAX is an evolution of previous expression languages and those familiar with MDX and Excel functions will recognize its heritage.

Our journey down the DAX path will begin with an introduction to the fundamental components of DAX expressions. You will learn to use several useful functions that can be applied to business logic and get answers to business-related questions. Expanding on the topics introduced in the previous chapter, we will use calculated columns to combine data from two source tables and then design...