Power Query in Excel and Power BI: Data Collection, Merging, and Transformation

This book describes Power Query, a tool for advanced business analysis, integrated into Excel, Power BI, and other Microsoft products, designed for connecting to data sources and transforming them. It explains how to process Excel tables without using complex formulas and macros, select data from multiple sources, merge mismatched tables, and maintain context when forming queries. Special attention is given to basic and advanced methods of unpivoting columns and collaborative reporting. An introduction to the M formula language is provided, showing how to properly form queries while avoiding failures and "traps". Issues of text analytics and knowledge extraction from texts, as well as social media analytics, are discussed. At the end of the book, a final project is presented that combines and reinforces the acquired skills.