Definitive Guide to DAX, The: Business intelligence with Microsoft Excel, SQL Server Analysis Services, and Power BI

Wow! I make a good part of my living off of Power Pivot and DAX and it's people like Alberto and Marco that have helped me all along the way - with their blog posts, conference sessions, and books. This book really stands out though. It's a very complete treatment of DAX which is the core language of all the "new" analytical tools that Microsoft has released over the past three years. DAX is a language that, at first glance, looks a lot like Excel and is pretty easy to learn for an advanced Excel user but the language quickly becomes more difficult if you haven't taken the time to understand its foundations - and that's what this book addresses ... in great detail. I've worked full-time with DAX for over three years now and I had lightbulbs going off constantly as I was reading this book. Incredible feeling, thank you. Said another way, there is knowledge in this book that will be hard to appreciate, that you'll miss entirely, unless you've had lots of experience with DAX. Beginners will get something from the book undoubtedly but it's really a book aimed at taking people from intermediate to expert. I agree with other reviewers who have suggested that DAX beginners start with Albert & Marco's other book "Microsoft Excel 2013 Building Data Models with PowerPivot"

I have been looking forward for this book to be available for shipment. Alberto and Marco's previous books were my 101's into self service BI, but after finishing them, the only resource to go deeper were only available in different online sources. I think this book is definitely a must have for all BI professionals. They are great in explaining even the most difficult concepts, and the material in this book is very much up-to-date with the new Power BI Service and Power BI Desktop. If you are beginner in DAX and BI, it might be too detailed as a starter, the authors even warn you about this, but if you want to become an expert, and want to go down into the details, this is your best resource. If you are a beginner, and especially if you are coming from the business analyst side, start with the other book - Microsoft Excel 2013 Building Data Models with PowerPivot , but buy this one as well, as definitely you will need it.

The Definitive Guide to DAX is the BEST, most in-depth treatment of the DAX language and DAX engine (VertiPaq). It is best suited for someone who already is familiar with the DAX language. Every aspect of the DAX language is introduced in a logical progression, including Evaluation Contexts, Time Intelligence, and Relationships. The insight and low-level details that Marco and Alberto provide are unique to this book. Later chapters describe the Vertipaq engine, and how to optimize both the data model and DAX queries. There's also plenty of examples on using DAX Studio (this is something I couldn't find in any other books). If you are looking to REALLY learn DAX, then this book is for you. It takes time and effort to get through all of this material, but it is well worth it. Marco and Alberto are the DAX Masters! Their DAX Workshop video is based upon the content in this book, and is excellent. Highly recommended.

It wasn't exactly what I was looking for. It isn't setup to explain every step, but to already have plenty of bi knowledge. More an advanced user book

This is certainly the definitive guide to the DAX language, which is growing in popularity since it can be used in Excel, Power BI, SQL Server Analysis Services, and other Microsoft tools. DAX is quite easy to use in common cases such as creating a calculated column, but in more advanced cases it offers incredible power, provided you know what you're doing. For users who want to go beyond "recipes" and really understand how DAX works, this book provides clear and thorough explanations of the concepts underlying DAX. Further, it offers great insights into the operation and performance of the Vertipaq / xVelocity engine that processes DAX expressions, enabling you to write queries that run as fast as possible. You have to invest time to get the most out of this book, but if you're using DAX in serious BI applications, the payoff is well worthwhile.

For those who serve in a business intelligence development/analysis context, I cannot recommend this book enough. The title truly fits its content. I work a lot in Microsoft Power BI as a Data Analyst for an energy company and for freelance. This book has provided so much help to me in properly writing DAX formulae...and fixing incorrect formulae. The chapter on evaluation context, though challenging, is certainly the most important aspect of properly understanding and utilizing DAX. Every page of this book is packed with thorough instruction, explanation, and examples. Don't just use this as a reference. Read it left to right so as to gain a good understanding of the breadth and depth of DAX, then continually use it as a reference as you find yourself struggling with various formulaic circumstances.

This book is soon going to challenge the Lord of the Rings trilogy for number of total reads. Every time I read it, I learn something new. It not only taught me DAX, it also taught me pivot tables, which I managed not to learn for twenty years as an Excel power user, as well as basic database concepts I also only "kind of" understood. It could probably benefit from some kind of function index, as I often find myself going back to look up information on a function that, for pedagogical reasons, is not all aggregated in one spot. This book has made me a much more efficient and effective Excel user, and the techniques, once absorbed, rapidly pay off the initial time investment in time savings during analysis.

If you really want to know and understand how Dax works, then this is the book you want. It is definitely not for beginners but rather delivered a tremendous amount of both breadth and depth about Power Pivot and more specifically Dax. Having read and viewed the whitepapers, blogs and presentations from the authors the book was exactly what I was expecting and wanting. If you need a text to get off the ground with Power Pivot then you will probably want to read something else and get your hands dirty with Power Pivot first. Once you are past the basics and want to go to the deep end of the pool, this is the book you want. It truly is the definitive guide and I highly recommend.

This is probably the definitive book on DAX, well written the examples are clear and easy to follow, it has helped me learn and better understand DAX and all it's possibilities.

MATERIAL EXCELENTE. NÃO DIMINUA O TAMANHO DA FONTE. TENHAM MUITO CUIDADO COM FONTE PEQUENA E LIVRO ESPESSO. O DE VOCÊS FICOU LEGAL, EXCELENTE CONHECIMENTO REPASSADO. MAIS TODA VEZ QUE FIZEREM UM LIVRO TENHAM MUITO CUIDADO COM A FONTE. LIVROS MUITO ESPESSOS E ALTURA E LARGURA PEQUENOS FAZEM COM QUE A CAPA DOBRE. EXCELENTE MATERIAL, ACONSELHO QUE COMPREM. PARABÉNS.

Heel goed boek! De schrijven zijn volgens mij extreem goed bekend met DAX. Het engels is met een beperkte woordenschat geschreven. Dat maakt het prettig om te lezen voor stof die toch al wat denk werk meebrengt.

This book is unarguably an authoritative one on DAX. I tried almost all of of the books on DAX in the market. I had finished all of them still couldn't understand how DAX engine works inside. Mostly all of the PowerPivot authors swim around =CALCULATE(SUM(Sales),ProductColor="Red") or =COUNTROWS('Products') etc. Really this duo Alberto & Marco are DAX mavens completely enjoying their supremacy in this BI field. Studying this book is not only enlightening but also you can enjoy the beauty of this language though it is a little tough to understand for an ExcelPro. The way they explain things are very lucid and straight. I've been studying, studying, studying this book for the last 12 months to trying to chew, understand everything about DAX..still miles to go. But one should be very patient when reading this since it is voluminous. This book is not for everyone, that is why you see many negative comments in amazon.com. I highly recommend this book for any aspiring DAX expert. I also recommend other books before you touch this for obvious reasons.

まず、初心者向けではありませんが、非常に良い本だと思います。DAXとその周辺情報を技術的背景からここまで深く理解し、解説したものは恐らくないのではと思わせます（他をすべて読んだわけではないですが）。著者達が運営しているサイトを見ても、そのことが確認できます。 内容は、なるべく分かり易く例をあげて説明しようという姿勢はありますが、著者がネイティブではない為か英語が若干単調でメリハリがあまりない感じがします。なので、同じ箇所を何度か繰り返し読まないと頭に入ってこないような印象を持ちました。 とはいえ、冒頭の通り、ここまでDAXを網羅したものはないでしょうし（推測です）、DAX辞典と言っても良いでしょう。 何度も読み返すことで理解が深まっていきます。