Expression language used in Microsoft Power Pivot, SQL Server Analysis Services Tabular, and Power BI for performing analytical calculations.

DAX stands for Data Analysis eXpressions, an expression language created by Microsoft for performing custom analytical calculations within the Power Pivot add-in for Excel, SQL Server Analysis Services Tabular, and Power BI.

DAX functions work on a column or table level to make use of the underlying compression technology used in PowerPivot.

Expressions created in DAX can be used in several ways:

  1. In calculated columns, evaluating the function on a row-by-row basis over an entire table.
  2. In measures, which may be manipulated and aggregated differently, depending on context.
  3. To return a tabular resultset when a table expression is evaluated (fills role of a general purpose query language)
  4. To create a calculated table in a Power BI model as part of the modelling process

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