Learning SAS by Example: A Programmer's Guide
by Ron Cody
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ron CodyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-03-29
ISBN: 1599941651
Number of pages: 664
Publisher: SAS Publishing
Book Reviews of Learning SAS by Example: A Programmer's Guide
Book Review: SAS programmer can grow with this book
Summary: 5 Stars
If you just want to casually gain some familiarity with SAS up to the level of Base Programming certification, then probably the Little SAS Book alone will be enough. (At least it worked for me.) That book is economically priced and is famous for being concise and clear. However, when you actually program in SAS or even prepare for the Advanced Programming certification, you will soon find yourself outgrow the "Little" book. Then you need another book like "Learning SAS by Example" to elevate you to the next level. This book is not only concise and clear, but also encyclopaedic and systematic. There are many good "programming by example" SAS books on the market. I am particularly impressed by this book's broad coverage of practical topics and their methodical treatments.
The book is divided into four parts.
Part 1 is a short introduction extended to details like priority of arithmetic operations and Program Data Vector-- stuff that not only beginners will find useful, but also more experienced programmers would not mind to keep as reference.
Part 2 drills on the DATA step. The chapters progress from file I/O, to creating data set, then creating formats and labels, and then writing conditionals and loops. This is just the logical order of a SAS program. Once you have the basics, then the book moves on to the next most common programming issues such as functions (dates, numeric, character), data subsetting, and arrays. These (plus half of Part 3) can essentially get you through the Base exam.
Part 3 covers mundane topics such as report customisation. All major means of data display, i.e., PROC PRINT (with PROC SORT), PROC FREQ, PROC MEANS, PROC TABULATE, PROC REPORT, and ODS, are individually introduced in their own chapters. There is even a bonus chapter on graphs. These things are often underappreciated if not outright overlooked by academians. The author, a retired medical school professor, recognises their importance by going through them one by one. All code examples are listed in a detailed index, earning its title "learning by example". However, I have to say that those examples are not too complicated. That is why I think this book is only basic to intermediate level.
Part 4 gets into more advanced techniques in input handling and data merging. Thank goodness this book is not into "hacks" that involve strings of SYMPUT and %SYSCALL and who-knows-what. Solutions are progressively improved until a clean, intuitive method is achieved. This part also covers audit trails, macros, PROC SQL, and even PROC TRANSPOSE. Except for memory management and PROC DATASETS, I think this book covers almost all the big topics in the Advanced exam. (By the way, this book teaches SQL up to explaining what a join is. But this is a book on SAS, not on SQL. If you want to use PROC SQL effectively, you still need to learn SQL from elsewhere.)
The four-part main content, including exercises, spans for 555 pages. Solutions for odd-numbered problems are included after that. The rest can be found in the support website. Together with the attached CD-ROM, it makes a great resource for self-study and for professional reference. My only major complaint is that this book lacks a good section or even just a good index on OPTIONS (especially NOFMTERR and SPOOL) and on %INCLUDE. Without such tools, it would be hard to share application modules in a real work environment. This new book is also a bit more expensive than its older competitors. But with all the helpful programming tips and recommendations of other good SAS books throughout the pages, a SAS beginner can grow with this book for a long time to come and well make the money worth.
Summary of Learning SAS by Example: A Programmer's Guide
Learn to program SAS by example!If you like learning by example, then Learning SAS by Example: A Programmer's Guide makes it easy to learn SAS programming. In an instructive and conversational tone, author Ron Cody clearly explains each programming technique and then illustrates it with one or more real-life examples, followed by a detailed description of how the program works. The text is divided into four major sections: Getting Started; DATA Step Processing; Presenting and Summarizing Your Data; and Advanced Topics. Subjects addressed include:
- Reading data from external sources
- Learning details of DATA step programming
- Subsetting and combining SAS data sets
- Understanding SAS functions and working with arrays
- Creating reports with PROC REPORT and PROC TABULATE
- Learning to use the SAS Output Delivery System
- Getting started with the SAS macro language
- Introducing PROC SQL
You can test your knowledge and hone your skills by solving the problems at the end of each chapter. (Solutions to odd-numbered problems are located at the back of this book. Solutions to all problems are available to instructors by visiting the book's companion Web site for details.) This book is intended for beginners and intermediate users. Readers should know how to enter and submit a SAS program from their operating system.
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