Chapter 4. All about Data – Data Densification, Cubes, and Big Data

Often, when teaching Tableau classes, I'm asked questions that don't fall under the purview of data topics discussed in the previous two chapters. In other words, these are questions that don't fall neatly into the categories of data preparation, joins, blends, or data structure. Here are a few example questions:

• I just created a table calculation and observe that the view displays numbers that doesn't exist in the underlying data. Why?
• We use SAP BW in my organization. What should I know about how Tableau works with cubes?
• I work for a Fortune 100 company. Can you tell me how Tableau works with big data?

This chapter will continue the data discussion from the previous two chapters by addressing the topics these three questions target. Those topics are as follows:

• About data densification
• Working with cubes
• Tableau and big data

There are a few people I'd especially like to thank who have...