What is the difference between discrete and continuous in Tableau?

Discrete fields take distinct, separate values and Tableau draws them as headers — one label or pane per value. They appear blue.

Continuous fields can take any value in a range and Tableau draws them as an axis. They appear green.

This is a different axis of classification from dimension versus measure, which is where the confusion usually comes from. Most dimensions are discrete and most measures are continuous, but you can have a discrete measure or a continuous date, and both are useful.

Dates make the distinction concrete. `MONTH(Order Date)` as a discrete part gives twelve headers with every year pooled together, which is what you want for seasonality. The same field as a continuous value keeps its position on the timeline, which is what you want for trend.

Practical consequences: discrete fields can be sorted manually and get distinct colour swatches; continuous fields follow numeric order and get a gradient. Filters differ too — a checkbox list against a range slider.