Now and again the question is raised on the forum on how to learn more about M. Tips for other online resources, books, video’s and so on. To centralize all these bits and pieces of information @BrianJ rightfully suggested to post it here and make it easier for anyone to find and contribute
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My ‘general’ Best practices for how to expand your knowledge on Power Query M are:
Make sure to have the Formula Bar visible in Power Query at all times. That way you can see the M code that’s generated by the UI and get you more familiar with it’s syntax.
Formula Language Specification Describes the structure of the language. Make a habit of revisiting it after you’ve practiced for some time - things will start to make more sense…
Formula Reference Bookmark this page. All functions with their specs. Read them, copy the example codes, paste it into the formula bar or advanced editor and study the results
The Standard Library in Power Query itself which lists all built-in functions: #shared keyword can be used to list all the functions available and
a function name without brackets can be entered to see it’s documentation
Introduction to M an hour long video by Chris Webb, a must see in my opinion!
Practice, practice, practice. Probably the most important thing when learning something new.
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Books
For a practical approach: “Collect, Combine And Transform Data Using Power Query In Excel And Power BI” by Gil Raviv
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If you have something to add, please share it with this community by replying to the tread.
Thank you!
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Personal note. Just like in Excel or with DAX there are often multiple ways to solve a problem and the same is true for Power Query. At the moment I like to use the UI as much as possible and only modify the M code when I need to. That way I hardly ever have to write M and that makes it easier to follow along.
But remember, there are alternatives - so don’t forget to explore on your own and report back.
Thanks for adding “M Is for Data Monkey” by Ken Puls and Miguel Escobar in the list. Just let you know, the new e-book of the above mentioned book have already released. Though this time they have changed the book name.
Books
“Master Your Data with Excel and Power BI” by Ken Puls and Miguel Escobar
You can find more information from the following link:
I’m still an old-school, hard copy guy for all my Power BI/data science reference books, so I haven’t gotten the updated version yet, since I think the paperback won’t be available in the U.S. until Nov. 1st.
Would love to hear from you and others who have the updated version how it compares to “M is for Data Monkey”.
You are absolutely right. Hardcopy will be published on 1st November,2021. This is my personal opinion, Ken and Miguel wrote the best book for Power Query and second edition will not disappoint you. They have updated many topics.
Thanks! - can’t wait to get it. Currently, Gil Raviv’s “Collect, Combine and Transform Data Using Power Query” is the first PQ/M book off my shelf, but sounds like this will be a worthy competitor.
Thanks! - I saw that blog entry yesterday too. The Power Query Cookbook looks like a winner to me. I’ve already got that one on pre-order, since it doesn’t come out until Oct 15. (Will also look cool on my shelf next to Greg Deckler’s DAX Cookbook):
I’ve got the Power Query Cookbook on pre-order also, looking forward to it.
Also purchased Soheil Bakhshi’s book, working my way through it, very good indeed.
