We have discussed features of the SAS programming language in the previous tutorial. In this tutorial, we will discuss the various advantages and disadvantages of the SAS programming language.

So, let’s proceed ….

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Advantages of SAS

There are several advantages of SAS Programming Language:

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1. Easy to learn

SAS is very easy to learn syntax. It can be learned easily without any programming skill so that anyone can learn it. Coding of SAS is in the form of simple statements. It is like giving instructions to the machine what to do.

2. Ability to handle Large Database

SAS is strongly capable of handling large database very easily.

3. Easy to Debug

SAS is a very comprehensible language. The process of debugging is very easy. It is easy to understand and correct the error because the log window states it clearly.

4. Tested Algorithms

The algorithm implemented in the SAS program is fully tested and analyzed by developers. Every version of SAS is tested in a controlled environment, before its release. Testing is possible because SAS is a closed source language.

5. SAS Customer Support

The organization of SAS maintains proper monitoring, as it is like a complete organization to analyze SAS. It has intuitive customer support. SAS customer support handles all kind of problems.

6. Data Security

SAS software is a primary tool for many large-scale companies. Company’s data is confidential here that’s why it is a close source of companies.

No external tincture is possible. Because SAS is a closed source tool, it can only be edited by the SAS organization.

In the extension of the above point, the data in SAS is completely secure. In the case of office use, without license we cannot extract data. Manipulation is not possible because of Data security, and this is the reason behind its popularity in the corporate world.

SAS is preferred over R and any other language used for analysis. R is open source; therefore, data security is not guaranteed. Only freelancer uses the R.

7. SAS GUI

SAS is a language that has made statistical computing easier for non-programming users. It has an amazing GUI (Graphical User Interface). Its user interface has various tools like plots, graphs, and highly versatile libraries.

8. Output

SAS has been developed in a long period of time. That’s why it provides a well formatted and absolutely correct output, which is easy to understand.

9. Huge Job Prospects

Due to the fact that SAS has been used in the industry for a very long time, there are huge employment potentials. Professionals learn SAS as a condition so that they can enter in the analytics industry. The person who commands the SAS can easily learn R and Python. This is a market leader in the Analytics industry.

Disadvantages of SAS

Some major disadvantages of SAS programming are as follows

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1. Cost

The cost of SAS software is one of its major disadvantages. We cannot use all its functions without a license, which is very expensive.It is a complete software due to being in a closed environment, so there is no facility for the license of any single function that we need. All these prerequisite makes it very expensive.

2. SAS is Not Open Source

R is always quicker than SAS in implementing an algorithm related to machine learning. The reason behind this, R is an open source so that anyone can operate it, but this is unfavorable for SAS. SAS is a closed environment software, and it doesn’t support open source so, the algorithm of SAS procedures is not for the use of public. SAS is available only in the licensed version. Algorithms are not openly available for public research.

3. Lack of Graphic Representation

There is more availability of R for advanced graphics. Its graphics presentation is much more vivid and consistent than SAS. It has a more descriptive plot, diagram, and graph.

4. Difficult Text Mining

Text mining in R is free, but in SAS, it uses SAS Enterprise. Text mining means extracting information from text. This is used to decrypt a written code. It tells us what the written text can decide in terms of decision making. This is the process in which the text converts data into decision making and analysis.

5. Difficult than R

SAS is more procedural language than R. There are more lines of code in SAS than R.

We can quickly apply new innovations such as statistical learning and machine learning in R in comparison to SAS.

Many packages which are free in R, are chargeable in SAS. For example, Text Mining, Time Series Forecasting (SAS / ETS), etc.

Summary

Since there are various advantages and disadvantages of SAS Programming. But in the Field of analytics, SAS has its own popularity among other languages. It has a wide job market, more security than any other language and a close source language. SAS has a protected environment for developers to test algorithms. It is always bug-free and has very helpful customer support.

So, this brings us to the end of blog. This Tecklearn ‘Advantages and Disadvantages of SAS Programming Language’ blog helps you with commonly asked questions if you are looking out for a job in SAS. If you wish to learn SAS and build a career in Data Analytics domain, then check out our interactive, SAS Training for SAS BASE Certification Training, that comes with 24*7 support to guide you throughout your learning period. Please find the link for course details:

SAS Training for SAS BASE Certification

SAS Training for SAS BASE Certification Training

About the Course

SAS Certification Training is intended to make you an expert in SAS programming and Analytics. You will be able to analyse and write SAS code for real problems, learn to use SAS to work with datasets, perform advanced statistical techniques to obtain optimized results with Advanced SAS programming. In this SAS online training course, you will also learn SAS macros, Machine Learning, PROC SQL, procedure, statistical analysis and decision trees. You will also work on real-life projects and prepare for the SAS Certified Base Programmer certification exam. Upon the completion of this SAS online training, you will have enough proficiency in reading spreadsheets, databases, using SAS functions for manipulating this data and debugging it.

Why Should you take SAS Training?

• The average salary for a Business Intelligence Developer skilled in SAS is $100k (PayScale salary data)

• SAS, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Accenture & other MNCs worldwide are using SAS for their Data analysis activities and advance their existing systems.

• SAS is a Leader in 2017 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Science Platform.

What you will Learn in this Course?

Introduction to SAS

• Introduction to SAS

• Installation of SAS

• SAS windows

• Working with data sets

• Walk through of SAS windows like output, search, editor etc

SAS Enterprise Guide

• How to read and subset the data sets

• SET Statement

• Infile and Infile Options

• SAS Format -Format Vs Informat

SAS Operators and Functions

• Using Variables

• Defining and using KEEP and DROP statements

• Output Statement

• Retain Statement

• SUM Statement

Advanced SAS Procedures

• PROC Import

• PROC Print

• Data Step Vs Proc

• Deep Dive into Proc

Customizing Datasets

• SAS Arrays

• Useful SAS Functions

• PUT/INPUT Functions

• Date/Time Functions

• Numeric Functions

• Character Functions

SAS Format and SAS Graphs

• SAS Format statements

• Understanding PROC GCHART, various graphs, bar charts: pie, bar

Sorting Techniques

• NODUP

• NODUKEY

• NODUP Vs NODUKEY

Data Transformation Function

• Character functions, numeric functions and converting variable type

• Use functions in data transformation

Deep Dive into SAS Procedures, Functions and Statements

• Find Function

• Scan Function

• MERGE Statement

• BY Statement

• Joins

• Procedures Vs Function

• Where Vs If

• What is Missover

• NMISS

• CMISS

PROC SQL

• SELECT statement

• Sorting of Data

• CASE expression

• Other SELECT statement clauses

• JOINS and UNIONS

Using SAS Macros

• Benefits of SAS Macros

• Macro Variables

• Macro Code Constituents and Macro Step

• Positional Parameters to Macros

Got a question for us? Please mention it in the comments section and we will get back to you.

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