Introduction
I have taken two statistics courses at Boston University in which we have used SAS. I am familiar with several programming languages, including C, C++, Perl, and PHP, and with the S statistical language as implemented in R. But I find the language used by SAS incomprehensible.
For example, here is a SAS program I wrote for one of the homework problems for the class I’m taking now, CAS MA 416 Intermediate Statistical Methods:
options ls=80 ps=55 nocenter;
data strings;
input subject $ stype $ score;
datalines;
1 1 745
1 2 764
1 3 774
2 1 734
2 2 733
2 3 763
3 1 777
3 2 786
3 3 788
4 1 779
4 2 801
4 3 797
5 1 756
5 2 786
5 3 785
6 1 721
6 2 732
6 3 740
;
proc glm data=strings;
class subject stype;
model score=subject|stype;
random subject subject*stype;
test h=stype e=subject*stype;
run;
I understand (after ten weeks’ of study) what this program means, but this is completely incomprehensible to a newbie. It is my belief (I’m beginning to rant now) that, because of the way the language is designed, there is no way to write self-documenting code in SAS. Rather, one has to be initiated to the mysteries of SAS, learning the magic incantations for performing an analysis.
So I have decided to become a SAS initiate. This page will serve as the log of my endeavors to unveil the mysteries of SAS and become a SAS master. My long-term goal is to obtain credentials as a SAS Certified Base Programmer and as a SAS Certified Advanced Programmer.
Documentation
SAS now provides its documentation online.
Books
Recommended Books
On Amazon’s web site, M. Allen Greenbaum provides So You’d Like To ... Enhance Your SAS Appeal, a list of books he recommends for learning SAS, along with a useful commentary. The page provides links to other lists provided by Amazon users, but Greenbaum’s is the best.
Applied Statistics and the SAS Programming Language
| Cover | Publisher’s Information |
|---|---|
|
Applied Statistics and the SAS Programming Language, 5th Edition
by Ronald P. Cody and Jeffry K. Smith March 30, 2005 ISBN 0-13-146532-5 Pearson/Prentice Hall |
The programs and data files for this book are available at http://www.prenhall.com/cody/.
A Handbook of Statistical Analysis Using SAS
| Cover | Publisher’s Information |
|---|---|
|
A Handbook of Statistical Analysis Using SAS, 2nd Edition
by Geoff Der and Brian S. Everitt August 21, 2001 ISBN 158488245X Chapman & Hall/CRC |
The sample data for this book (and for many other SAS books) are available at http://support.sas.com/documentation/onlinedoc/code.samples.html.
Software
SAS Learning Edition 2.0
| Cover | Publisher’s Information |
|---|---|
|
SAS Learning Edition 2.0
June 2004 ISBN 1-59047-460-0 SAS Publishing Approx. 2-year license for software Requires Windows XP, 2000, or NT |
SAS e-Learning Courses
SAS provides a number of e-learnings courses, which you license and install on your own computer.
| Course | Notes |
|---|---|
| SAS Certification: Base Programming | This course prepares the user for SAS’s Base Programming certification exam. The course costs $300, and the license is good for 180 days. |
| SAS Certification: Advanced Programming | This course prepares the user for SAS’s Advanced Programming certification exam. The course costs $300, and the license is good for 180 days. |
| SAS Programming Library |
This course
library contains the following five courses:
|
| Advanced SAS Programming Library |
This course
library contains the following courses:
|
Web Resources
- Visualizing Categorical Data by Michael Friendly