Strengthen your programming skills with tips and techniques from the experts
![Timing performance in SAS/IML: Built-in functions versus Base SAS functions](https://blogs.sas.com/content/iml/files/2019/08/timeMissing-640x336.png)
One of my friends likes to remind me that "there is no such thing as a free lunch," which he abbreviates by "TINSTAAFL" (or TANSTAAFL). The TINSTAAFL principle applies to computer programming because you often end up paying a cost (in performance) when you call a convenience function that simplifies