You'll find a lot of similarities in the interfaces of Tableau Prep Builder and Tableau Desktop. The home screen of Tableau Prep Builder will look similar to this:

The following components have been numbered in the preceding screenshot:

1. The menu includes options for opening files, editing and running flows, signing into Tableau Server, and various Help functions.
2. The two large buttons at the top give you the option to Open a Flow to open an existing work or Connect to Data to start a new flow with an initial data connection. We'll define a flow in the next section. For now, think of a flow in terms of Tableau Prep's equivalent of a Tableau Desktop workbook.
3. Recent Flows shows the Tableau Prep data flows that you have recently saved. You may click on one of these to open the flow and edit or run it. A toggle button on the right allows you to switch between thumbnails and a list.
4. Sample Flows allows you to open some prebuilt examples.
5. The Connections pane starts with a + button, allowing you to add a new data connection. As you add connections, they will be listed in this pane, along with associated tables, views, files, and other options.
6. The Discover pane gives you options for training and resources as you learn more about Tableau Prep.

Once you have opened or started a new flow, the home screen will be replaced with a new interface that will facilitate designing and running flows:

This interface consists of the following, which are numbered in the preceding screenshot:

1. The Flow Pane, where you will logically build the flow of data with steps that will do anything from cleaning to calculation, to transformation and reshaping. Selecting any single step will reveal the rest of the interface that is specific to that step.
2. The Changes pane lists all of the changes that are made in the step, from calculations to renaming or removing fields, to changing data types or grouping values.
3. The Profile Pane gives you a profile of each field in the step. You are able to see the type and distribution of values for each field. Clicking on a field will highlight the lineage in the flow pane and clicking one or more values of a field using brushing will highlight the related values of other fields.
4. The Data Grid shows individual records of data as they exist in that step. Selecting a change in the Changes grid will show the data based on changes up to and including the selected change. Selecting a value in the profile pane will filter the Data Grid to only show records containing that value. For example, selecting First Class for the Ship Mode field in the profile pane will filter the data grid to show only records with a Ship Mode of First Class. This allows you to explore the data, but doesn't alter the data until you perform a specific action that does result in a change.

You will also notice the toolbar that allows you to undo or redo actions, refresh data, or run the flow. Additionally, there will be other options or controls that appear based on the type of step or field that's selected. We'll consider those details as we dive into the paradigm and practical example later.