MDX with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Analysis Services Cookbook – Book Review

The book is written as cookbook, meaning that you can choose the individual ‘recipes’ that apply to whatever problem you’re trying to solve. Each recipe starts off with a section called ‘Getting Ready’, essentially giving you the base query to use, before moving onto ‘How to do it’, which covers the main instructions for the recipe. There are then further sections, which explain how the example works and also suggest other functions/concepts that you may want to consider. This sort of cookbook style makes it really easy to follow, each recipe is displayed very clearly in the book.

A wide range of MDX problems are covered, from time calculations to context-aware calculations. Not every piece of the MDX functionality is covered, which is to be expected, given the size of the book. It also doesn’t cover the usual introduction to members/sets etc that MDX books tend to cover, but it’s clearly stated that having a working knowledge of MDX is a pre-requisite for the book.

I found the copy that I’ve been reading in the Adatis office, but I really do like it, so I’ll definitely be ordering my own copy!