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AAbdelkader's avatar
AAbdelkader
Helper I
9 years ago
Solved

Dax or M Language

Hello there,   I need to ask which the effective language that should I deep dive into, which language is worthy to rely on my data analysis. I'm still a newbie in BI but I'm familiar with creating...
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  • Sean's avatar
    Sean
    9 years ago

    You emphasized Data Analysis twice in your post so I'll say DAX first!

    DAX stands for Data Analysis Expressions after all :smileyhappy:

    That said inevitably you WILL need some knowledge of M

    However the User Interface in the Query Editor is extremely helpful so you can delay having to learn M indefinitely :smileywink:

    Don't let ImkeF and MarcelBeug see this post :smileyvery-happy:

  • ImkeF's avatar
    ImkeF
    9 years ago

    Check out this article fresh from the press: http://radacad.com/m-or-dax-that-is-the-question

     

    Agree with Sean : Make use of the wonderful user interface in the query editor which let's you glide into the language with minimal efford, if you start to read the code that has been created with your interactions:

     

    1) Make sure that the Formula Bar is visible (2)

    3) Click on each stepname and see what code has been generated (2)

     

    It's a bit like the Macro-recorder in Excel. It's a painless excercise at the beginning and you will develop a feeling for the syntax of the language and in no time you might start to twitch the code a bit and explore coding :-)

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    9 years ago

    Hi AAbdelkader

     

    I totally agree with ImkeF and Sean.

     

    My advise to my team is simple:

    - import and massage data by using Power Query aka M in Power BI.

    - Create your calculation with DAX.

     

    By learning Dax and M you will learn to find the nuances and intersections in the two languages.

     

bt_avalonbay's avatar
bt_avalonbay
Advocate I
8 years ago

I would add there is a concern we're running into given the Analyze in Excel feature in O365. Amounts/Values with a sigma next to them in your Fields list are not valid candidates for the Values section of the pivot table once you're in Excel. Only Measures with a calculator icon next to them in your Fields list are. So, what might be a valid candidate for aggregations in Power BI might not be available for the Analyze in Excel experience as you might imagine.