Power BI DAX in a Day — Lesson 1: DAX Foundations and Core Measures

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate columns, measures, implicit measures, and evaluation timing
• Use SUM, COUNT, DISTINCTCOUNT, DIVIDE, IF, SWITCH, and variables
• Create clear measure names, formats, display folders, and descriptions

Detailed Topics

• Differentiate columns: Differentiate columns, measures, implicit measures, and evaluation timing
• Use SUM: Use SUM, COUNT, DISTINCTCOUNT, DIVIDE, IF, SWITCH, and variables
• Create clear measure names: Create clear measure names, formats, display folders, and descriptions

Guided Demonstration

1. Review the requirement, intended users, data, dependencies, permissions, risks, and expected result.
2. Demonstrate the relevant configuration, analysis, code, application, report, or administration workflow step by step.
3. Capture settings, outputs, logs, screenshots, calculations, test results, and other useful evidence.
4. Compare the observed result with the acceptance criteria and explain any corrective action.

Hands-On Activity

Create a foundational measure set for a sales model.

• Document assumptions, prerequisites, and the planned sequence before starting.
• Complete the activity and preserve evidence of normal, boundary, and failure behavior.
• Record issues, corrective actions, reusable notes, and the next improvement priority.

Scenario Analysis

• Identify the business or technical decision that must be made.
• Compare at least two valid implementation approaches and their trade-offs.
• Consider security, privacy, accessibility, performance, support, and operational impact.

Troubleshooting Focus

• Separate symptoms from causes and collect evidence before applying a fix.
• Check configuration, data, permissions, dependencies, capacity, connectivity, and recent changes.
• Validate rollback, recovery, support ownership, user impact, and business continuity.

Validation Checklist

• The requirement, scope, inputs, and expected outcome are clear.
• The selected design or configuration is documented and follows approved standards.
• Normal, boundary, failure, security, accessibility, and operational conditions are reviewed.
• The result is supported by evidence and the next improvement is prioritized.

Lesson Outcome

Learners can explain and apply DAX Foundations and Core Measures in a realistic scenario and validate the result with documented evidence.