How Data Modelling, Relationships and Joins Shape Power BI Reports

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Power BI relies on structured data modelling to transform raw data into accurate, high-performing dashboards and reports. Data modelling involves organising tables into logical entities — such as customers, products, dates, and sales transactions — linked by unique keys rather than stored in a single flat table. Power BI supports three core schema patterns: flat, star, and snowflake, each with distinct trade-offs in performance, scalability, and complexity. A star schema, which places a central fact table surrounded by dimension tables, is widely preferred for its query efficiency and cleaner DAX formula writing. Understanding the differences between merging tables in Power Query and defining model relationships in Power BI is critical to building scalable, maintainable reporting solutions.

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