The idea of writing a book on Power BI is not new for me, I’ve been thinking about it for a while, even before the first release of Power BI Designer. However, Power BI is fast-paced technology, Microsoft Product team is doing a great job with monthly, and sometimes even more frequent updates. With this fast pace release, any book publishing would be outdated once the book comes out in the market. Publishing a book takes time, writing TOC, then chapters, building demos, peer reviews, proofreading, test, feedback, revise on reviews, and publishing takes a long time. I’ve been in the publishing process of some books and I am completely aware of that. So I thought it would be better to write a book online on this blog rather than spending heaps of time on paper publishing. There are some reasons that I thought about writing this book online and writing that for free which I like to mention in this preface.
About the New Edition and New Structure
The Power BI from Rookie to Rock Star been such a popular book from the time that it published, and I added content to it every single week. After edition 3 which released July 2017, there have been many contents added. The edition 3 itself was more than 1100 pages, and If I wanted to continue the book as an all-in-one, it would have been more than 1700 pages altogether now. So I decided to break the book into a book series. Each book in this series is a complete book and can be read individually. However, each book covers a specific area of the Power BI, and if you want to learn Power BI from ground zero to sky hero, you would need to read them all. Here is the new structure:
Edition 4: 7th of Jan 2019. Total number of pages (all books together): ~1700 pages
- Book 1: Power BI Essentials
- Book 2: Visualization with Power BI
- Book 3: Power Query and Data Transformation in Power BI
- Book 4: Power BI Data Modelling and DAX
- Book 5: Pro Power BI Architecture (Apress)
Download Free PDF Version of the first four books
** Table of Content with the link to articles is down at the bottom of this post
Why I Don’t Publish it…
There is nothing wrong with publishers such as Apress, Wrox and etc, these are great publishers. However, I have to spend lots of time to get them to read my proposal first, and then set the schedule, and write, review…. to publish. This is a long way as I mentioned above. With fast-paced technologies such as Power BI this long process won’t work, actually, the time that book is available in the market it will be out-dated for sure. When I write it online, I can write faster, I can write like a blog post, and I can write it every day. If technology updates, I’ll write an update blog post. It is all easy and on-time.
Why Free?
I never write a book for money, I write because I like to get a wider audience in front of me and tell them about the great product, and best practices of doing things with that and so on. With famous publishers, I would definitely get more audience. However when the content is available for free and online then everyone would read it, search engines would direct the audience to this content, and audience range will expand.
Why Power BI?
Haven’t you heard the news? Power BI Desktop released with superb features, there is a massive push in Microsoft for updating Power BI regularly and frequently which makes this product better and better each month, There are so much awesome things that you can do with Power BI and many other reasons. I actually have to search for reasons why not Power BI!
How Frequent Would I Write?
Well, I planned for writing at least a post every day for that, and with the count of days till end of the year (about 147 days from now), even if I could make only 100 days of writing on this book, I’ll be able to have it in a very good stage at end of 2015. That said, the content would be available every day, so you won’t need to wait until the end of the year to read something. you can just read it every day. I encourage you to subscribe to this blog to receive an email when the content is available.
What do I expect From You?
Feedback, Comments, Questions, Real-World Challenges about Power BI. I’m writing blog posts anyway, it will get better and better if I get feedback from you. I can put more examples if I know your real-world challenges with Power BI. I can answer your questions along the way, that answer might help some others with similar problems as well.
Who Is This Book For?
BI Developers and Consultants who want to know how to develop solutions with this technology. BI Architects and Decision Makers who want to make their decision about using or not using Power BI in their BI applications. Business Analysts who want to have a better tool for playing with the data and learn tricks of producing insights easier. The book titled “Power BI From Rookie to Rockstar”, and that means it will cover a wide range of readers. I’ll start by writing 100 level and we will go deep into 400 level at some stage. So if you don’t know what Power BI is, or If you are familiar with Power BI but want to learn some deep technical topics about Power Query M language, then this book is for you.
Table of Content
Like any other books, I like to share the Table of Content here. The Table of Content is highly subject to change at this stage. I’ll update the table of content along the way.
Table of Content
Book 1: Power BI Essentials
This book is the book one of the series. In this book, you will learn about all components of Power BI. You will learn each component in a beginner to intermediate level. You will learn from getting data, to do minor modeling, and visualizing the data. You will also learn about the Power BI website, and sharing reports through that environment. Book one is not a deep dive book. It is a book that rises you from the ground zero level to an intermediate level of understanding all Power BI components. If you are looking for deeper diver learning, your answer is within books 2 to 5.
- Introduction to Power BI: What is Power BI?
- Power BI Desktop; The First Experience
- Power BI Website: You’ll Need Just A Web Browser
- What Is Power Query? Introduction to Data Mash-up Engine of Power BI
- Get Started with Power Query: Movies Data Mash-Up
- Power BI: How to Analyze FIFA 2014 Worldcup
- Quick Measures in Power BI: You don’t have to write DAX!?
- Power BI Q&A; How to Ask Questions?
- Be Fitbit BI Developer in Few Steps: First Step Get Data from CSV
- Be Fitbit BI Developer in Few Steps: Step 2 Loop Through All CSV Files
- Be Fitbit BI Developer in Few Steps: Step 3 Visualization
- Schedule Refresh Local Files on Power BI Web Site
- Dashboard vs Report; Differences At a Glance – Power BI
- Dashboard Sharing, and Manage Permissions in Power BI; Simple, but Useful?
Book 2: Visualization in Power BI
This book is the book two of the series. In this book, you will learn only about visualizations. You will learn visualization basics such as choosing between clustered column chart or stacked column chart, as well as extending visualizations using some features such as drill-through master details design. You will learn through examples, everything about Power BI visualizations in this page. If you want to learn the basics of Power BI Desktop or service, or learn basics of Power BI in general, start with book one of this series “Power BI Essentials” If you want to learn more about advanced features in Power Query, Modeling or Architecture, your answer is within books 3 to 5.
- Part I: Visuals in Power BI
- Part II: Extending Visual Features
- Master Detail Design with Drillthrough Filter in Power BI
- Report Page Tooltip – Revolution in Visualization of Power BI
- Control the Interaction in Power BI Report
- Grouping and Binning; Step Towards Better Data Visualization
- Bookmarks and Buttons: Making Power BI Charts Even More Interactive
- Clear All Slicers in Power BI; A Bookmark Story
- Filtering Slicer Resolved in Power BI
- Part III: Map Visualization
- Part IV: Custom Visuals
- Part V: Mobile Reports
- Part VI: ATool to Help
Book 3: Power Query and Data Transformation in Power BI
This book is the book three of the series. You will learn all about Power Query in this book. Through many demos and examples, you will learn all aspects of Power Query, from getting Data to different types of transformations. You will also learn about features such as Custom functions that can make your code more automated. You will learn about the scripting language of Power Query which is called M. at the end of the book, you will learn some use cases of using Power Query; for example, for creating a Date dimension. If you want to learn more about other parts of Power BI not just Power Query, your answer is within books 1 to 5.
- Part I: Getting Started with Power Query
- Part II: Get Data
- Part III: Transformations
- Reference vs Duplicate in Power BI; Power Query Back to Basics
- Append vs. Merge in Power BI and Power Query
- Choose the Right Merge Join Type in Power BI
- How to Change Joining Types in Power BI and Power Query
- Find Mismatch Rows with Power Query in Power BI
- Dates Between Merge Join in Power Query
- Pivot and Unpivot with Power BI
- Warning! Misleading Power Query Filtering
- Grouping in Power Query; Getting The Last Item in Each Group
- Fuzzy Matching in Power BI and Power Query; Match based on Similarity Threshold
- Fetch Files and/or Folders with Filtering and Masking: Power Query
- Part IV: Dealing with Errors
- Part V: Power Query Formula Language: M
- Power Query Formula Language: M
- M or DAX? That is the Question!
- Basics of M: Power Query Formula Language
- Basics of Value Structures in M – Power Query Formula Language
- Power Query Formula Language M : Table Functions Part 1
- List.Accumulate Hidden Gem of Power Query List Functions in Power BI
- Power Query; Convert Time Stamp to Date Time
- Get List of Queries in Power BI
- Power Query Library of Functions; Shared Keyword
- Writing Custom Functions in Power Query M
- Day Number of Year, Power Query Custom Function
- Power Query Function that Returns Multiple Values
- Custom Functions Made Easy in Power BI Desktop
- Search for a Column in the Entire Database with Table.ColumnNames in Power Query and Power BI
- Power BI Custom Connector: Connect to Any Data Sources. Hello World!
- Part VI: Performance Tuning
- Part VII: Power Query Use Cases
- Create a Date Dimension in Power BI in 4 Steps – Step 1: Calendar Columns
- Create a Date Dimension in Power BI in 4 Steps – Step 2: Fiscal Columns
- Create a Date Dimension in Power BI in 4 Steps – Step 3: Public Holidays
- Power Query Not for BI: Event Date and Time Scheduler – Part 1
- Power Query Not for BI: Event Date and Time Scheduler – Part 2
- Power Query Not for BI: Event Date and Time Scheduler – Part 3
- Part VIII: A Tool to Help; Power BI Helper
Book 4: Power BI Modelling and DAX
This book is the book four of the series. In this book, you will learn about data modeling in Power BI with a heavy focus on DAX. You will learn about all types of calculations in Power BI such as Calculated column, table, and measure and their differences. You will learn many scenarios of writing calculations in Power BI. Through many examples, you will learn all about the modeling in Power BI, which is relationships, hierarchies, date dimension, DAX functions and expressions, etc. If you want to learn more about other parts of Power BI not just Modeling, your answer is within books 1 to 5.
- Part I: Basics of Modeling
- Part II: Relationships
- Part III: DAX and Calculations
- Part IV: Real-world Scenarios of DAX Expressions
- Lost Customers DAX Calculation for Power BI
- DatesInPeriod vs DatesBetween; DAX Time Intelligence for Power BI
- DateAdd vs ParallelPeriod vs SamePeriodLastYear; DAX Time Intelligence Question
- Week to Date Calculation in Power BI with DAX
- Previous Dynamic Period DAX Calculation
- Solving DAX Time Zone Issue in Power BI
- Parsing Organizational Hierarchy or Chart of Accounts in Power BI with Parent-child Functions in DAX
- Overwrite Interaction of Power BI with DAX
- Power BI Issue Fix: Import from Excel Workbook Contents; Password Protection Failure
- Part V: A Tool to Help: Power BI Helper
Book 5: Pro Power BI Architecture (Apress)
I’ve been teaching and consulting on Power BI for many years. My students and clients always ask me, “What is a good reference for Power BI architecture?,” and I always refer them to my blog posts. Then I got a proposal from Apress to write a book on Power BI
architecture, which has always been on my to-do list. This is not a book for beginning Power BI, nor is it for data analysts or developers. It is a book for someone who wants to design the strategy and architecture of Power BI so it can be used in an organization or as a solution. This is a book that talks about components and their collaboration with each other. This is a book that gives you blueprints of different architectures and the pros and cons of each. If you are a developer or an analyst, you still will benefit from this book, but you will notice that this book does not explain how to create reports with Power BI. For that, you
can read my online book, “Power BI from Rookie to Rockstar.” This is a book focusing on architecture topics such as sharing, security, integration, administration, etc. After finishing this book, you will have full knowledge of all Power BI components
and will be able to design the architecture to use Power BI in your organization (or for your client’s organization) while considering all existing requirements.
Part I: Getting Started
Chapter 1: Power BI Components
Chapter 2: Tools and Preparation
Part II: Power BI Service
Chapter 3: Power BI Service Content
Chapter 4: Gateway
Chapter 5: Import Data or Scheduled Refresh
Chapter 6: DirectQuery
Chapter 7: Live Connection
Chapter 8: Choosing the Right Connection Type
Part III: Sharing
Chapter 9: Dashboard Sharing
Chapter 10: Workspaces as a Collaborative Environment
Chapter 11: Power BI Apps
Chapter 12: Publish to Web
Chapter 13: Embed in SharePoint Online
Chapter 14: Power BI Embedded
Chapter 15: Power BI Sharing Methods
Part IV: Security
Chapter 16: Row-Level Security
Chapter 17: Dynamic Row-Level Security
Chapter 18: Patterns for Dynamic Row-Level Security
Chapter 19: Row-Level Security with Analysis Services Live Connection
Part V: Administration and Licensing
Chapter 20: Power BI Administrator Configuration
Chapter 21: Usage Metrics
Chapter 22: Power BI Licensing Guide
Chapter 23: Power BI Premium
Part VI: Integration
Chapter 24: PowerPoint Integration with Power BI
Chapter 25: Power BI and Excel
Chapter 26: Power BI Report Server
Chapter 27: SQL Server Reporting Services
Chapter 28: Real-Time Streaming with Power BI
Chapter 29: Power BI REST API
Part VII: Architecture
Chapter 30: Power BI Architecture Guidelines
Reza is author of more than 14 books on Microsoft Business Intelligence, most of these books are published under Power BI category. Among these are books such as Power BI DAX Simplified, Pro Power BI Architecture, Power BI from Rookie to Rock Star, Power Query books series, Row-Level Security in Power BI and etc.
He is an International Speaker in Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft Business Applications Summit, Data Insight Summit, PASS Summit, SQL Saturday and SQL user groups. And He is a Microsoft Certified Trainer.
Reza’s passion is to help you find the best data solution, he is Data enthusiast.
His articles on different aspects of technologies, especially on MS BI, can be found on his blog: https://radacad.com/blog.
Looking forward to reading you.
I’m a consultant working with the mssql BI stack and looking to widen my expertise.
Thanks David for your kind words.
I hope my future posts help you widen your expertise.
Cheers,
Reza
The more I know about Power BI, the more I get interested in that.
Thank you so much Reza in advance for doing this!
Thank you Naser for visiting my posts, and reading the book in advance 🙂
I can’t wait to read this too!
Great to see you here Amy, and thanks for your warm words 🙂
Very much looking forward to it.
Thanks Scott for your kind words
Cheers,
Reza
Very excited to watch this project and participate as much as possible.
Looking forward to that Reza, need to learn about the new power BI…
You’ll find it really useful. Glad to see you here Jason.
Cheers,
Reza
One of the best brain in Power BI word, I salute your dedication to Power BI. It is making a whole lot of difference to many of our lives. Keep it up….
Thanks Naveen for your kind words 🙂
Hi Reza, Thanks for sharing nice books and kudos to your work. I would like to know if we can get access to 5th book which is PRO Power BI architecture ?
The last book is available on the Apress website.
Thanks for all your sincerity and hard work. Where is Apress website?
Do you mean this: https://www.apress.com/gp/book/9781484240144
Great find! Keep up the good work
Reza, I thoroughly appreciate your Power BI online book and have combed over RLS to get it tried, tested and implemented on a small scale, but cannot for the life of me get it to work as programmed for. I will continue testing until I find the right solution. Your online book is a treasure trove of “how-to’s” and very much appreciated.
Thanks Calvin for your very nice feedback.
Please don’t hesitate to ask me any question you have. I’m glad that you loved this book 🙂
Cheers
Reza
Hi Reza,
I truly enjoyed the webinar that you gave today for the Power BI Community, it was really helpful. I was also so eager to look right away at your book, but when I try to download it, through Chrome or IE, I get a page with the following error displayed repeatedly:
Warning: strpos(): Empty needle in C:\wamp64\www\radacad.com\wp-content\plugins\email-before-download\download.php on line 154
Thank you for sharing what you know!
Brenda
Thanks Brenda for your feedback.
Our website is under heavy demand for download now, and you might see an error page after clicking on download link, please try again after few minutes if that happens. Sorry for inconvenience.
Cheers
Reza
Such a helpful and valuable resource! Thank you for sharing.
HI, I am new to PBI and read already the 1st version of your book: Looking froward for the updates ver 02 Feb 2017! Thanks for the good work and sharing your knowledge.
Very clever way to “publish” your knowledge and make them for wider group of people!
I feel grateful for your effort.
Great stuff Reza! I am going through your book now page by page as my position was eliminated at my previous employment and am honing my skills in SQL Server and Power BI. Power BI is a fantastic product and does sooooo much and I feel I am just hitting the tip of the iceberg on what it can do.
Hi Keith,
Sad to hear bout your role elimination. I’m sure you will find a better role soon. Glad that my book is useful for you 🙂
Cheers
Reza
It is an honour that a fellow countryman has written this book. I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.
Thanks Hamid jan for your kind words
Cheers
Reza
Thanks very much for making this available! I look forward to learning lots from your book.
Kind regards
Meg
I study the Power BI by myself for few months. Your post is the greatest one that I found on the internet for learning Power BI. Many thanks to you.
Hi ,
Thank you for sharing.
I heard something about PBI 4 months ago, and luckly knew such a book 1 week ago. I think it will be helpful in the future.
Your link to download the pdf book does not work. here is the error message, even you have enter an email address.
Failed to send your message. Please try later or contact the administrator by another method.
thank you
Tomas
Hi Tomas,
The download link fixed. If you enter your email from now on, you will receive an email with the download link after few minutes 🙂
Cheers
Reza
Great book to read!
Where is the link to download the online pdf book – “Power BI from Rookie to Rock Star”?
Hi Tiger,
You need to enter your email address, and the PDF book link will be emailed to you
Cheers
Reza
This is very informational. Thank you.
Thank you very much for this resource, you are changing lives.
Dear Reza ,
I’m reading this book and too many questions of mine are answered during few days.
Thanks for your commitment and time dedication to be precise and professional. Details , tips , graphics are great and help me knowing the concept of PowerBI through a different perspective.
I think this book is a valuable scientific approach to teaching this powerful tool.
Good luck and I hope to see you.
“Kheily Kheily Mamnoon!!! :)”
Thank you from a student.
Thanks!
Hi Reza, I am learning a lot from your blog post and book. As Power BI is changing so fast when we can expect next release of this powerful book. Thanks.
Hi,
Followed the Radacad precon session at Dataminds connect in Belgium. I liked it very much. Will read this to gain more thorough knowledge of Power BI.
Thanks!
Hello Reza,
I postponed for quite some time learning Power BI because MS made it a bit complex to share with others (as in publish). I’m repeating what I was told!!!
Now that I purchased a subscription to Office 365 Business it appears that I have a free Power BI subscription too.
Will going through you tuts help me learning how to publish a dashboard on a Web Page or only in my PC?
Thanks
In this book you will learn about publishing Power BI reports on the website and all other features on the website such as a dashboard. you will also learn about all security models, workspaces, Power BI apps and everything you need for publishing reports in the production environment.
Hi do we need this book if we already have your 4 books in Amazon?
Hi.
The books are Amazon are different.
This is a free book
Cheers
Reza