Pbi Dax Basics — Free Power Bi Tutorial
Learn Pbi Dax Basics in Power Bi with a free, beginner-friendly tutorial, examples and practice for Indian students on Syllab.in.
TL;DR: Learn Pbi Dax Basics in Power Bi with a free, beginner-friendly tutorial, examples and practice for Indian students on Syllab.in.
Written & reviewed by the Syllab.in Academic Team (CBSE/NCERT subject experts) · Updated
Pbi Dax Basics in Power Bi
DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) is Power BI's formula language for creating calculated fields. Two types exist: Calculated Columns (computed row-by-row, stored in memory, slow for large tables) and Measures (computed on-the-fly during aggregation, fast, appropriate for dashboards). Understanding when to use each is critical for performance and correctness.
Calculated Columns are created in Power Query or Model view and evaluate once per row. Use for derived fields that don't aggregate: "FullName = CONCATENATE(FirstName, LastName)" or "AgeGroup = IF(Age < 18, "Child", "Adult")". These columns are stored in the data model (increasing size) and filter/sort by their values directly.
Measures are dynamic formulas evaluated every time a dashboard chart requests aggregated data. Use for KPIs and metrics: "Total Sales = SUM(Sales[Amount])" or "Avg Order Value = DIVIDE(SUM(Sales[Amount]), DISTINCTCOUNT(Sales[OrderID]))". Measures respond instantly to filters (region, date) and scale to billions of rows because they don't pre-compute.
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