SAS language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
SAS
Windows and macOS
LicenseProprietary commercial software
Filename extensions.sas
Websitesas.com/en_us/software/base-sas.html

The SAS language is a

mainframe computers.[3]

History

Main article: SAS Institute § History

SAS was developed in the 1960s by Anthony James Barr, who built its fundamental structure, [4] and SAS Institute CEO James Goodnight, who developed a number of features including analysis procedures.[5] The language is currently developed and sponsored by the SAS Institute, of which Goodnight is founder and CEO.[6]

Language

Base SAS is a

interpreted language, it is generally parsed, compiled, and executed step by step.[8] The SAS system was originally a single instruction, single data (SISD) engine, but single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) and multiple instruction, multiple data (MIMD) functionality was later added.[9] Most base SAS code can be ported between versions, but some are functions and parameters are specific to certain operating systems and interfaces.[10]

All SAS programs are written within the SAS language, although some packages use menu-driven

graphical user interfaces on the front-end.[11] Various SAS editors use color coding to identify components like step boundaries, keywords and constants.[12] It can read in data from common spreadsheets and databases and output the results of statistical analyses in tables, graphs, and as RTF, HTML and PDF documents.[13]

Syntax

The language consists of two main types of blocks: DATA blocks and PROC blocks.[14] DATA blocks can be used to read and manipulate input data, and create data sets. PROC blocks are used to perform analyses and operations on these data sets, sort data, and output results in the form of descriptive statistics, tables, results, charts and plots.[15][16] PROC SQL can be used to work with SQL syntax within SAS.[17]

Users can input both numeric and character data into base SAS. SAS statements must begin with a reserve keyword end with ;

case insensitive.[19] SAS statements can continue across multiple lines and do not require indenting, although indents can improve readability.[18] Comments are delimited by /* and */.[20]

A standard SAS program typically entails the definition of data, the creation of a data set, and the performance of procedures such as analysis on that data set.[18] SAS scripts have the .sas extension.

A simple example of SAS code is the following 

* COMMENT;
Data TEMP;
   input X Y Z;
   datalines;
1 2 3
5 6 7
;
run;

PROC PRINT DATA = TEMP;
RUN;

SAS macro language

The SAS

macro language is made available within base SAS software to reduce the amount of code, and create code generators for building more versatile and flexible programs.[21] The macro language can used for functionalities as simple as symbolic substitution and as complex as dynamic programming.[8] SAS macro is considered to be a rich language,[22] although its overall syntax is very similar to that of base SAS. The names of macro variables in SAS are usually preceded by &, while macro program statements are usually preceded by %.[8]

Software

Main article: SAS (software)

SAS Institute develops a number of tools and software suites, also called SAS, which are used for creating programs in the language. These suites include JMP, SAS Viya, SAS Enterprise Guide and SAS Enterprise Miner.[3][9][17] In 2002, World Programming also developed software that allows the execution of most SAS scripts.[17]

Uses

The SAS language is used as a standard in many industries,

data warehousing in the finance, insurance, manufacturing, health care and pharmaceutical industries.[14] It has a high level of documentation and community support,[20] which has contributed to its uptake.[24]

Machine learning

SAS is used for preparing input data, and building and optimizing

fraud detection.[27] SAS has also been noted for its applications in the area of decision intelligence.[28]

Data mining and warehousing

While SAS was originally developed for data analysis, it became an important language for data storage.[5] SAS is one of the primary languages used for data mining in business intelligence and statistics.[29] According to Gartner's Magic Quadrant and Forrester Research, the SAS Institute is one of the largest vendors of data mining software.[24]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ SAS History, SAS Institute, archived from the original on 2013-10-23, retrieved April 4, 2014
  2. ^ Barr & Goodnight, et al. 1976:"The SAS Staff". Attribution of contributions to SAS 72 and SAS 76.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-13-349860-8
    .
  4. ISBN 978-1-4614-3649-2
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1-78953-118-3
    .
  6. ^ "Pampering The Customers, Pampering The Employees". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  7. ^ "SAS Help Center". documentation.sas.com. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-1-62960-237-0
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-1-63526-677-1
    .
  10. ISBN 978-1-119-25570-3
    .
  11. ISBN 978-1-64295-343-5
    .
  12. ISBN 978-1-119-04218-1
    .
  13. ISBN 978-1-119-25642-7
    .
  14. ^
    ISBN 978-81-7722-769-7
    .
  15. ISBN 978-0-13-349860-8
    .
  16. ISBN 978-1-119-25642-7
    .
  17. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-284419-4
    .
  18. ^
    ISBN 978-81-7722-769-7
    .
  19. ISBN 978-1-64295-343-5
    .
  20. ^
    ISBN 978-1-119-25642-7
    .
  21. ^ "Introduction to SAS Macro Language". stats.oarc.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  22. ^ Stalla, Alessio (2022-04-20). "Challenges in Parsing Legacy Languages: The Case of SAS Macros". Strumenta. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  23. ^ "TIOBE Index". TIOBE. Archived from the original on 2024-02-23. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  24. ^
    ISBN 978-1-118-92070-1
    .
  25. ISBN 978-1-000-17681-0
    .
  26. ISBN 978-1-63526-677-1
    .
  27. ISBN 978-1-64295-917-8
    .
  28. ^ "Forrester Reprint". reprints2.forrester.com. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  29. ISBN 978-1-119-54985-7
    .

References

  • "Overview of the SAS Language". Department of Animal Science, McGill University. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  • Barr, A. J.; Goodnight, J. H.; Sall, J. P.; Helwig, J. T. (1976), A User's Guide to SAS 76, Raleigh, North Carolina: SAS Institute, Inc.,
    ISBN 0-917382-01-3

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