DAX vs Power Query

Power Query and DAX are different worlds that came together in Power BI to take care of different aspects of working with data.

What’s the difference between Power Query and DAX?

DAX stands for Data Analysis Expressions which is used to create custom calculations and measures

It lets you perform complex calculations and aggregations on data,

Examples: Calculating year-to-date totals, comparing values across different time periods etc.

Use DAX to create custom calculations and measures.

Here's an example of how you might create a measure that calculates the year-to-date sales amount for each product:

Power Query is a data transformation and preparation tool

It allows you to connect to various data sources, transform and clean the data, and load it into Power BI

Some Power Query actions include reshaping, filtering, merging, and appending data, and performing other data preparation tasks.

Power Query contains expressions, variables, and values encapsulated by let and in statements. A let and in statement block is structured as follows:

DAX and Power Query can also work together.

You can use Power Query to transform and clean your data,

Then use DAX to create custom calculations and measures based on that data.

By leveraging both tools, you can create powerful and insightful visualizations that help you make better business decisions.