{"id":10886,"date":"2018-03-16T08:26:55","date_gmt":"2018-03-16T02:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/data-flair.training\/blogs\/?p=10886"},"modified":"2025-05-13T23:24:21","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T17:54:21","slug":"sas-tutorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/data-flair.training\/blogs\/sas-tutorial\/","title":{"rendered":"A Complete SAS Tutorial – Learn Advanced SAS Programming in 10 Mins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, we will start a new journey of SAS technology with the help of a comprehensive SAS tutorial.<\/p>\n

There are various questions which arise in our mind when we see the word ‘SAS’ like, What is SAS? Where it is used? What is the future scope in technology? You will get all the answers for such similar questions in this SAS tutorial.<\/p>\n

Let’s quickly start by exploring the basic concept of SAS programming.<\/p>\n

Introduction to SAS Programming<\/h3>\n

We require some statistical tools to handle the tonnes of data generated each day. Structuring and analyzing the data is the main task, followed by strategic decision making. It can be directly said that the cause and excess of data, led to the efficient generation of data analysis tools like SAS.<\/p>\n

SAS Programming Language is defined as the science of data-driven decision making. Technology can bring us from raw data to structured readable data; it even predicts many solutions to a problem.<\/p>\n

But it is ultimately the call of humans to make the final decision. It uses the repetitive and procedural exploration of past data to handle business decisions.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s understand this with an example, have you ever wondered, why is a billing point at the mall, loaded with gum and candies on its sides.<\/p>\n

This is not an unplanned move, rather a strategically made decision. Let\u2019s see how, for instance when parents are at the billing counter with their kids, waiting for their turn. The gums and candies lure the kids and they demand of having it.<\/p>\n

To prevent creating a scene at the counter, the parents have to unwillingly buy it. This results in an increased sale of candies and gum. This is what business analytics does, observes the trends and patterns and mould the business accordingly to make a profit.<\/p>\n

\"SAS<\/a>

Chocolate Display Counter<\/p><\/div>\n

What is SAS Programming?<\/h3>\n

SAS stands for \u2018Statistical Analysis Systems<\/strong>\u2019. It can be dated back to 1970s, a software tool developed by SAS Institute. It is a closed source analysis tool. A widely used analysis tool in the corporate world to make strategic decisions.<\/p>\n

A fun fact, SAS was used originally for statistics application in agriculture projects. But now it\u2019s used in various industries from media to retail, education, and finance, etc.<\/p>\n

In simple words, SAS Programming allows you to process a large chunk of raw data to manageable small sets of data, leading to results which help in decision making.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"SAS<\/a>

Processing of Raw Data<\/p><\/div>\n

Components of SAS Programming<\/h3>\n

Now in SAS Tutorial, we will learn components of SAS Programming Language:<\/p>\n

i. Base SAS<\/h4>\n

It is a basis for all SAS software<\/strong>. SAS has hardware agility and integrates into any computer environment. It is easy to learn and is not code intensive. It provides data management programming and functionalities for reporting.<\/p>\n

ii. SAS\/GRAPH<\/h4>\n

It a data visualization technique. It helps represent structured data into graphs, charts and visualizations by enhancing the process of interpretation.<\/p>\n

iii. SAS\/STAT<\/h4>\n

It helps us perform various statistical analysis variance, regression, and psychometric analysis. Some statistical techniques like such as\u00a0ANOVA <\/strong>procedures are specially strung in the SAS environment.<\/p>\n

iv. SAS\/ETS<\/h4>\n

It is specially used for forecasting and for the time series analysis.<\/p>\n

v. SAS\/IML<\/h4>\n

IML is called Interactive Matrix Language<\/strong>. It is used to translate mathematical formulas into an innovative program for matrix computation and optimization.<\/p>\n

vi.\u00a0SAS\/INSIGHTS and Enterprise Miner<\/h4>\n

SAS\/INSIGHTS and Enterprise\u00a0Miner\u00a0are used for data mining<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"SAS<\/a><\/p>\n

Building Blocks of SAS Programming<\/h3>\n

This part of the SAS Tutorial covers, the\u00a0technical part of SAS Programming. DATA and PROC are two major building blocks of SAS Programming Language. DATA helps to build a data set. The PROC refers to a Procedure<\/em>. It processes the data.<\/p>\n

Now, for instance, consider if I wish to convert $ into Rs. So, if I use SAS for this conversion, then the DATA converts dollars to rupees and creates a dataset named \u2018currency\u2019. The PROC will print the result for us.<\/p>\n

Statements are made up of PROC and DATA steps. DATA steps are responsible to read data, on the other hand, PROC steps are used to perform utility functions, analysis of data, or print reports.<\/p>\n

\"SAS<\/a><\/p>\n

Writing DATA and PROC steps<\/p>\n

\"SAS<\/a><\/p>\n

Results obtained<\/p>\n

Features of SAS Programming Language<\/h3>\n

SAS Programming as a tool is very helpful for analytics. SAS is software which works in three simple processes. It gets data from various sources, cleans it and processes it. SAS programming language is one of the easiest procedural languages.<\/p>\n

It has a simple syntax and various inbuilt libraries containing enormous features. For instance, it has features like plotting graphs, finding permutations and combinations and solving regression.<\/p>\n

\"SAS<\/a><\/p>\n

i. SAS Programs<\/h4>\n