Is SAS a programming language?
SAS has a programming language, but IS that all it is? Nope, but it still ranks high as a most marketable programming skill.
Author
Chris HemedingerRSS
Director, SAS User Engagement
Director, SAS User Engagement
+Chris Hemedinger is the Director of SAS User Engagement, which includes our SAS Communities and SAS User Groups. Since 1993, Chris has worked for SAS as an author, a software developer, an R&D manager and a consultant. Inexplicably, Chris is still coasting on the limited fame he earned as an author of SAS For Dummies.
Share your expertise at SAS Innovate 2025
Call for content! Bring your expertise to SAS Innovate 2025! Accepted presenters can earn free registration, hotel, and travel stipends.
Using SAS with Microsoft 365 (OneDrive, Teams, and SharePoint)
Learn how to use SAS code (PROC HTTP) to read and write files from your Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft Teams or SharePoint Online. You'll learn how to create a Microsoft Office 365 app, connect to it with SAS, and automate the integration with your office productivity environment.
Lengths and formats in SAS: the long and short of it
What's the difference between LENGTH and FORMAT in a SAS data set? This article shares the answer, with examples.
How to work with emojis in SAS
Emojis are showing up in our data. Here's what you need to know when working with emojis in your SAS code.
Through the years: SAS Enterprise Guide versions
My colleague Rick Wicklin maintains a nifty chart that shows the timeline of SAS releases since Version 8. A few of you asked if I could post a similar chart for SAS Enterprise Guide. Here it is. Like Rick, I used new features in SAS 9.4 to produce this chart
What's next for SAS 9 and SAS Enterprise Guide?
SAS announces continued support and releases for SAS 9 and a new role for SAS Enterprise Guide with SAS Viya.
Visualized: US Currency in circulation, past and present
This phenomenon has been in the news recently, so I've updated this article that I originally published in 2017. The paper currency in circulation in the US is mostly $100 bills. And not just by a little bit -- these account for 34% of the notes by denomination and nearly
SAS knows it's a leap year. Do you?
How to calculate a leap year in SAS - the easy way!
5 reasons to use VS Code for your SAS code projects
The SAS extension for VS Code supports SAS syntax and programming, and can connect to almost all SAS environments.
How to split a large file into smaller chunks using SAS
Use SAS DATA step to split a large binary file into smaller pieces, which can help with file upload operations,
2024 SAS Customer Recognition Awards – It’s Time to Vote!
Cast your vote by Friday, Feb. 2 to determine winners of the 2024 SAS Customer Recognition Awards.
Announcing the 2024 SAS Customer Recognition Awards
Accomplish something great with SAS software? Enter the 2024 SAS Customer Recognition Awards contest through Jan. 19.
Celebrate your inner nerd at SAS Explore with Don McMillan
Don McMillan - America's top nerdy comedian -- is a featured entertainer at SAS Explore, Sept 11-14 in Las Vegas.
SAS Customer Recognition Awards – It’s time to vote!
Entries are in. Now it’s your turn to cast your vote for the best in each category.
Bring your expertise to SAS Explore 2023
SAS Explore 2023 is open for your ideas and submissions! Bring your content ideas to the conference -- your experience and expertise is needed!
Announcing the SAS Customer Recognition Awards
SAS' Chris Hemedinger announces the SAS Customer Recognition Awards, which applaud SAS customers and partners helping us change the world through analytics.
Inclusive language: in coding, in your wardrobe, in life
SAS is inclusive as a community, as a company, and as a technology. I'll wear the message loud and proud -- and you can too.
SAS 9.4 Maintenance 8 is available
SAS 9.4M8 is available. Its focus is on security and updates to third-party technologies. It also updates the supported OS environments.
ChatGPT brings AI into popular culture
ChatGPT from OpenAI has changed how the general public thinks about AI. What does this mean for analytics practitioners?
Programming the Wordle game in SAS
One approach to creating the Wordle game in the SAS programming language. Ready to play?
Visualizing our Netflix Trip through "The Office"
Over 57 billion minutes of The Office was streamed in 2020. My family bears some responsibility. Here's our activity visualized -- using SAS.
How to organize your SAS projects in Git
As you begin managing your SAS code and projects in Git, here are a few guidelines for how to organize your work and collaborate with others.
Using SAS to convert IP addresses into numerical IP values
As citizens of the Internet, we are all familiar with IP addresses -- probably more so than our Internet founding fathers had ever intended. These addresses are typically represented in a 4-piece segmented list of numbers separated by dots. Here is an example: "149.173.5.120". Each segment is called an octet
How to copy files in SAS Enterprise Guide
One of the problems that trips up experienced SAS users when they begin to use SAS Enterprise Guide is a result of simple geography. The SAS Enterprise Guide application runs here, on your desktop. The SAS Workspace session (which accesses data and cranks through your analysis) runs over there, on
How to share your SAS knowledge with your professional network
SAS Global Forum 2020 is not the conference experience we thought it would be. Thousands of us had planned to gather in person to share our enthusiasm and knowledge about SAS and power of data and analytics. We were going to combine our skills and knowledge to inspire one another
Tricks for importing text files in SAS Enterprise Guide
I'm a big fan of the Import Data task in SAS Enterprise Guide, especially for its support of text-based files (CSV, tab delimited, fixed width, and more). There's no faster method for generating SAS code that reads your data exactly the way you need it. I use the tool so
Viewing SAS macro variables in SAS Enterprise Guide
If you use SAS macro variables in your programs (who doesn't?), then the SAS Macro Variable viewer is immensely useful to see current macro var values.
How to publish to a Microsoft Teams channel using SAS
If you use Microsoft Teams for collaboration, you should use it for operational messages too. You can use SAS to automate tailored notices to your Teams Channel.
A skeptic's guide to statistics in the media
News outlets share stats and graphs that they source from public data. It takes data literacy skills to critique the stats you see, and investigate more.