Chapter 1

Overview of SAS

Section 1.1
Overview of SAS

Objectives

Describe the difference between SAS the company

and SAS the programming language.
List the components of Base SAS.
Describe the value that SAS programming skills have
in the work world.
List several companies, industries, and schools who
use SAS software and what they use SAS for.
Compare the demand for SAS programmers to that of
other languages.

SAS: The Language

SAS, the programming language, has the following
characteristics:
is a 4th generation programming language
is designed for data access, manipulation and
transformation, and analysis
runs on all major computing platforms
has a library of prewritten, integrated procedures
known as PROCs
has easy-to-learn syntax

SAS: The Company

SAS, the company, is known for the following:
is the world's largest privately held
software company
Dr. Jim Goodnight, CEO
was incorporated in 1976 by
Dr. Jim Goodnight, a North Carolina State
University statistics professor
employs over 10,000 people in 113 countries
is consistently listed as one of the top 100 places in
the country to work
can claim that 96 of the top 100 Fortune 500
companies use SAS
provides free M&Ms to employees every day
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Value of Learning SAS Programming

Locally:
25JUN2008
Monster.com
listed 61 jobs
in the RTP
area needing
SAS skills.
www.monster.com

Value of Learning SAS Programming

Nationwide:
25JUN2008
Monster.com
listed over
2400 jobs
needing SAS
skills.
www.monster.com

Value of Learning SAS Programming

Results:
June 2008
The TIOBE
Programming
Community index
gives an indication
of the popularity of
programming
languages.
The index is updated
once a month.
Search engines
calculate the ratings.
http://www.tiobe.com/tpci.htm

Who Uses SAS?

Retail

Life
Sciences

Entertainment

Colleges and
Universities

Eddie Bauer

Alcon

Carnival Cruise
Lines

North Carolina
State University

Brooks Brothers

Monsato

Expedia

University of
Central Florida

Autozone

Eli Lily and MLB Advanced

Company Media

1-800Diiachi
FLOWERS.COM

Oklahoma
State University

NC Museum of Art University of

Copenhagen

More than 43,000 business, government, and university

sites in 108 countries rely on SAS.
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Section 1.2
SAS Certification

Objectives

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Describe the benefits of the SAS certification process.

SAS Certification
Why become certified?
Becoming SAS-certified can do the following:

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increase your career opportunities and marketability

enhance your credibility as a technical professional

assess your knowledge of SAS software

enable you to earn industry validation for your

knowledge

SAS Certification
SAS offers five professional certifications. Each
certification requires the successful completion of one or
more exams to earn a credential.
This course teaches the content necessary for the SAS
Certified Associate Programmer Credential for SAS9.
You can find out more about this exam and other SAS
certification exams at www.support.sas.com.

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SAS Certification

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Taking this class does not guarantee that you will pass the
associate certification exam, but should increase your
knowledge and skills.
Required experience:
Successful candidates should have at least one year of
current SAS programming experience and should be able
to perform the following tasks:
import and export raw data files
manipulate and transform data
combine SAS data sets
create basic detail and summary reports using SAS
procedures
identify and correct data, syntax, and programming
logic errors

SAS Certification
SAS created a new credential for high school students
called the SAS Certified Associate Programmer.
SAS Certified Associate Programmer Exam:
available to high school students in November, 2008
50 multiple choice questions
32 questions answered correctly to pass (65%)
two hours to complete the exam
no access to SAS during the exam

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