Is there any technical or practical difference between these two measures?

[ERing]

I have data structured like below and I need to return the number of records from my table that meet the following conditions:

1. 'Table_A'[Has_APP_Recording] = "Y"

2. 'Table_A'[Training_Complete] = "Y"

3. 'Table_A'[APP_Recording_Minutes] > 75

I have found that each of the measures below returns the same value. 

I'm wondering if there is any technical or practical difference in these measures?

What would happen if I had rows where Job_ID was missing? I would still want to count these records, but I'm assuming they would not get counted with Valid_Jobs_2 measure? Maybe Valid_Jobs_1 is better becuase it doesn't rely on a column to count?

Sample File 

Valid_Jobs_1 = 
COUNTROWS(
    FILTER(
        'Table_A',
        'Table_A'[Has_APP_Recording] = "Y"
        && 'Table_A'[Training_Complete] = "Y"
        && 'Table_A'[APP_Recording_Minutes] > 75
    )
)



Valid_Jobs_2 = 
COUNTX(
    FILTER(
        'Table_A',
        'Table_A'[Has_APP_Recording] = "Y"
        && 'Table_A'[Training_Complete] = "Y"
        && 'Table_A'[APP_Recording_Minutes] > 75
    ),
    'Table_A'[Count_Job_Id]
)

[danextian · Accepted solution]

Hi @ERing 

The first one is faster as it simply counts the rows. The second one iterates row by row before evaluating and counting non-blank values in a specific column (Count_Job_Id). This extra step introduces additional overhead, especially if the column is a calculated column or if the dataset is large. Therefore, COUNTROWS is generally more efficient when you only need to count the number of rows that meet certain conditions, while COUNTX should be used when you're specifically interested in counting valid (non-blank) entries of a particular column within that filtered set.

[ERing]

@danextian This makes sense. Thank you for the explanation.

[maruthisp]

Hi @ERing ,

As per my knowledge, below is the differences which I can see:

If you want to count every matching record, even those with no Job ID or where Count_Job_Id is empty, go with Valid_Jobs_1.

If you only want to count records that also carry a valid Job ID (or any non-blank column), then Valid_Jobs_2 is the right choice.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

If this reply helped solve your problem, please consider clicking "Accept as Solution" so others can benefit too. And if you found it useful, a quick "Kudos" is always appreciated, thanks! 

Best Regards, 

Maruthi 

LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/maruthi-siva-prasad/ 

X            -  Maruthi Siva Prasad - (@MaruthiSP) / X

[maruthisp]

Hi ERing,
Both will return the same rsult as long every row in your filtered table has non blank values.

COUNTROWS - simple counts everyrow that passess filter expression
COUNTX - Iterated the same filtered set of rows, but for each row it evaluates table ID and only increments the count
For more info:
Use COUNTROWS instead of COUNT in DAX - DAX | Microsoft Learn
COUNTROWS vs COUNT DAX Functions in Power BI – Simple Example

COUNTROWS counts rows.
COUNTX counts non-blank values of the expression you pass - Job_ID column

Please let me know if you have further questions.

If this reply helped solve your problem, please consider clicking "Accept as Solution" so others can benefit too. And if you found it useful, a quick "Kudos" is always appreciated, thanks! 

Best Regards, 

Maruthi 

LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/maruthi-siva-prasad/ 

X            -  Maruthi Siva Prasad - (@MaruthiSP) / X