SQL SERVER – Languages for BI – MDX, DMX, XMLA
Excellent article by Pinalkumar Dave detailing the 3 languages of BI
MDX – Multidimensional Expressions. This language is used for retrieving data from SSAS cubes. It looks very similar to T-SQL, but it is very different in the areas of conceptualization and implementations.
DMX – Data Mining Extensions. This is again used for SSAS but rather than cubes it is used for data mining structures. This language is more complicated than MDX. Microsoft has provided lots of wizards in its BI tools, which further reduced experts for learning this language which deals with data mining structures.
XMLA – XML for Analysis. This is mainly used for SSAS administrative tasks. It is quite commonly used in administration tasks such as backup or restore database, copy and move database or learning meta data information. Again, MS BI tools provide lots of wizards for the same.
The complete article can be found on Dave’s Blog
