I frequently get asked the question, “ how do I quickly improve my DAX skills?”
My answer always is some form of this – “there are no shortcuts, but with dedicated study and structured deliberate practice, using the resources available to you as an Enterprise DNA member, such as the eDNA Data Challenges, Power BI Accelerator, and the forum, you can make exceptional progress in a relatively short amount of time.”
But what if there WAS a shortcut? Something that immediately improved your DAX by providing a deluxe editing environment, more intelligent Intellisense, more specific and clearer error messages, comprehensive reference materials just a click away, the ability to create base measures automatically, and most importantly, the ability to look inside DAX measures and visually see what is going on, and why your measure may not be producing the expected results (click here for a recent example from the forum).
Moreover, what if that same tool could easily align your data model with best practices, create calculation groups and KPIs, automate common DAX coding tasks, and much more? Well, thanks to an amazing programmer named Daniel Otykier, that tool (Tabular Editor 3) exists and it fully lives up to the hype.
My initial video review was entitled “Tabular Editor 3 Will Change the Way You Power BI” and a recent event by the Nashville Power BI and Modern Excel User group had the tagline “Tabular Editor 3-The Best Power BI Tool That Isn’t Power BI”.
The one significant strike against TE3 is that by Daniel’s own admission, it currently is not that well documented. However, later this week that should be of little concern to Enterprise DNA Members.
Our resident DAX Maestro Antriksh Sharma guides you from TE3 installation and setup to the program’s basic DAX editing, debugging, and modeling features, and finally through the full range of TE3’s advanced capabilities with crystal clear explanations and easy-to-follow examples.
If you are a relative beginner to Power BI, I would recommend for now only taking the course through Chapter 4 (DAX and Data Model), and then picking up the more advanced features down the road. Regardless of your current abilities, I think this course and TE3 together will quickly and dramatically level up your skillset, at least double the speed of your Power BI Report development, and just make Power BI a lot more fun to use.
A huge thanks to Antriksh for developing this unique and exceptional course that will truly “change the way you Power BI”.
All the best,
Brian Julius
Chief Content Manager
