What is data type conversion and casting?

< 1 min read

Data type conversion or casting means changing a column from one data type to another.
In my project, Sales Amount stored as text was converted to numeric for calculations.
Order Date in text format was cast to Date type for time-based analysis.
Boolean flags like “Y/N” were converted to True/False.
It ensures calculations, aggregations, and filtering work correctly.
In Power Query, we used “Change Type” or DAX functions for casting.
Incorrect types can cause errors or blank visuals in reports.
Conversion also standardizes data from multiple sources with different types.
It improves model reliability and KPI accuracy.
So type conversion makes data usable and consistent for analytics.

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