Top Most Frequently Asked Tableau Interview Questions (with Short Answers) set 3

 

31. What is the difference between Tableau Server and Tableau Cloud?

Tableau Server

• Hosted on-premises by the organization.
• Managed by the company's IT team.

Tableau Cloud

• SaaS solution hosted by Tableau.
• No infrastructure maintenance required.

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32. What is the difference between Published Data Source and Embedded Data Source?

Published Data Source

• Stored on Tableau Server/Cloud.
• Can be reused across multiple workbooks.
• Centralized governance.

Embedded Data Source

• Exists only inside a workbook.
• Cannot be shared independently.

Interview Tip: Enterprises prefer Published Data Sources.

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33. What is the difference between Measure Names and Measure Values?

Measure Names

• Contains the names of all measures.
• Used to display multiple measures.

Measure Values

• Contains the values of selected measures.

Example:

Sales
Profit
Quantity

Displayed together in a single table or chart.

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34. What are Generated Fields in Tableau?

Fields automatically created by Tableau.

Examples:

• Number of Records
• Latitude
• Longitude
• Measure Names
• Measure Values

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35. What is the difference between a Worksheet, Dashboard, and Story?

• Worksheet: A single visualization.
• Dashboard: Multiple worksheets combined.
• Story: A sequence of dashboards/worksheets telling a business story.

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36. What are Table Calculations? Name some commonly used ones.

Table calculations are computed on the data already displayed in the visualization.

Common functions:

RUNNING_SUM()

RANK()

WINDOW_SUM()

WINDOW_AVG()

LOOKUP()

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37. What is the difference between RUNNING_SUM() and WINDOW_SUM()?

RUNNING_SUM()

• Calculates cumulative total.

RUNNING_SUM(SUM([Sales]))

Example:

100
250
450
700

---

WINDOW_SUM()

• Sums values within a specified window.

WINDOW_SUM(SUM([Sales]),-2,0)

Example:

Rolling 3-month Sales

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38. What is the LOOKUP() function?

Returns a value from another row in the table.

Example:

LOOKUP(SUM([Sales]),-1)

Returns the previous row's sales.

Useful for:

• MoM Growth
• YoY Growth
• Variance Analysis

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39. What is the difference between RANK() and INDEX()?

RANK()

Ranks based on measure values.

RANK(SUM([Sales]))

Output:

1
2
3
4

---

INDEX()

Returns row position.

INDEX()

Output:

1
2
3
4

Difference: RANK() depends on values; INDEX() depends on row order.

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40. How do you troubleshoot a slow Tableau dashboard?

Answer:

• Use Extract instead of Live connection.
• Reduce the number of marks.
• Optimize joins and relationships.
• Use Context Filters.
• Minimize Quick Filters.
• Replace complex calculations with database logic.
• Reduce high-cardinality dimensions.
• Use Performance Recorder to identify bottlenecks.
• Hide unused fields.
• Limit dashboard actions and worksheets.

Interview Tip: Mention Performance Recorder (Help → Settings and Performance → Start Performance Recording). This is a strong point in senior Tableau interviews.

Top Most Frequently Asked Tableau Interview Questions (with Short Answers) set 2

21. What is the difference between FIXED and INCLUDE LOD?

FIXED ignores dimensions in the view.

{ FIXED [Customer ID] : SUM([Sales]) }

INCLUDE adds dimensions to the view level.

{ INCLUDE [Customer ID] : SUM([Sales]) }

Interview Answer: Use FIXED when you need a calculation independent of the visualization.

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22. What happens if a Dimension Filter and FIXED LOD are used together?

FIXED LOD ignores Dimension Filters unless the filter is added to Context.

Example:

{ FIXED [Region] : SUM([Sales]) }

If Region is filtered, FIXED may still calculate using all regions unless the filter is a Context Filter.

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23. What is the difference between COUNT and COUNTD?

COUNT

COUNT([Customer ID])

Counts all records.

COUNTD

COUNTD([Customer ID])

Counts unique values.

Example:

101
101
102

COUNT = 3
COUNTD = 2

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24. What is ATTR() in Tableau?

Returns a value if all rows have the same value; otherwise returns *.

ATTR([Region])

Often used in tooltips and blended data.

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25. What is the difference between a Set and a Parameter?

Set

Dynamic list of members.

Top 10 Customers
Top 5 Products

Parameter

Single user input value.

Top N = 10
Sales Threshold = 10000

Interview Answer: Sets control data members, Parameters control values.

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26. What is a Context Filter and why is it used?

A Context Filter executes before other filters.

Steps:

1. Right-click filter.
2. Add to Context.

Benefits:

• Improves performance.
• Controls filter execution order.

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27. What is the difference between a Quick Filter and a Normal Filter?

Normal Filter

• Applied to worksheet.

Quick Filter

• Displayed to user on dashboard.

Example:

Region Dropdown
Year Selector
Category Multi-select

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28. Explain Tableau Order of Execution.

Most commonly asked.

Extract Filter
↓
Data Source Filter
↓
Context Filter
↓
Dimension Filter
↓
Measure Filter
↓
Table Calculation Filter

Understanding this helps solve many filter-related issues.

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29. What is the difference between Table Across and Table Down?

Used in Table Calculations.

Table Across

RUNNING_SUM(SUM([Sales]))

Calculates horizontally.

Table Down

RUNNING_SUM(SUM([Sales]))

Calculates vertically.

Difference is in Compute Using settings.

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30. What is the difference between Inner Join and Left Join in Tableau?

Inner Join

Returns matching records only.

A INNER JOIN B
ON A.ID = B.ID

Left Join

Returns all records from left table.

A LEFT JOIN B
ON A.ID = B.ID

Interview Example:

Customer Table = 100 customers
Orders Table = 80 customers

• Inner Join → 80 customers
• Left Join → 100 customers

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Senior-Level Bonus Question

Why are Relationships preferred over Joins in Tableau?

Answer:

• Relationships preserve table granularity.
• Avoid duplicate records.
• Tableau generates optimized queries automatically.
• Better for large star-schema data models.

This is a very common question in Tableau 2020.2+ interviews.