Just like the SAS DATA step, the SAS IML language supports both functions and subroutines. A function returns a value, so the calling syntax is familiar:       y = func(x1, x2); /* the function returns one value, y */ In this syntax, the input arguments are x1 and x2. The

A previous article discusses the fact that there are often multiple ways in SAS to obtain the same result. This fact results in many vigorous discussions on online programming forums as people propose different (but equivalent) methods for solving someone's problem then argue why their preferred method is better than