SAS Explore was created by technologists for technologists, and has more than 100 free SAS training sessions. Here are a few top picks!
SAS training: 5 free sessions technologists love was published on SAS Users.
Tag: Training
What to expect when you take SAS training: Before, during and after
You’ve chosen the right class, added-to-cart, and hit submit. You’re committed – now what? Once you book a class with us, no matter the format, you can expect an email confirming your request within 24 hours. For instructor-led training courses, a reminder email is sent 3-5 days before the course […]
What to expect when you take SAS training: Before, during and after was published on SAS Users.
Gifts to give the SAS fan in your life
If you’re like me, you struggle to buy gifts. Most folks in my inner circle already have everything they need and most of what they want. Most folks, that is, except the tech-lovers. That’s because there’s always something new on the horizon. There’s always a new gadget or program. Or […]
Gifts to give the SAS fan in your life was published on SAS Users.
NOTE: SAS Global Forum 2016 – Call for Content is Open #SASGF
Have you thought about sharing some of your knowledge with fellow SAS practitioners at SAS Global Forum 2016 in Las Vegas, April 18 – 21? User participation is what makes SAS Global Forum (SGF). Attending the papers from SAS staff is always informative…
Summer of Coding
I’m always keen to encourage an awareness and uptake of coding in my kids. I think that coding brings a lot more than the simple ability to write programs. Coding requires a set of disciplines and an approach that are of great benefit in all walks of life.
As the summer holidays are upon us, with weeks upon weeks for kids to idle away their time, now is a good moment to revisit some of the online opportunities to give kids an insight into the joys of coding.
I’ve previously mentioned Scratch and App Inventor 2 (AI2) as two very accessible means for getting kids (and adults!) started, and producing a useful app that they can share with their friends very quickly. Both sites are free and use a clever building blocks interface to allow budding programmers to quickly understand the requirements of syntax. Scratch builds web-based apps and AI2 builds apps for Android devices (phones and tablets) with surprisingly powerful blocks for accessing web-based resources.
Scratch has always encouraged its users to share their work. Earlier this year App Inventor added its own gallery for showing and sharing.
Whilst it’s not free, I’ve heard good things about Tynker. Tynker also takes the building blocks approach to syntax, and offers structured courses to help guide its students to exciting results.
Another means of getting your kids inspired is Lightbot. This is a series of programming-related puzzles featuring a cute robot character in a games app – available for Apple iOS, Android and other platforms. Great fun, and challenging too when you get to some of the higher levels.
As technology becomes more pervasive, traditional trades disappear, and the world of work becomes more globalised, the skills that newer members of the workforce need are changing: problem solving, team working, and communication are but three “21st century skills”. Digital literacy (ability to find and use internet-based resources and information) and creativity— and the latter’s close relative, entrepreneurship—are close behind. And, the young have become more comfortable learning on their own, especially on topics of interest. They just need to be pointed in the right direction!
Follow me on Twitter: @aratcliffeuk
SAS UK Forum
If you haven’t already seen a notice, there will be SAS Forum events in the UK again this year (in previous years they’ve been known as SAS Professionals Convention, but I guess the “forum” tag provides consistent branding with events such as SAS Globa…
Learning R: Live Webinar, Interactive Self-Paced, or Site Visit?
My recent blog post, Why R is Hard to Learn, must have hit a nerve as it was read by over 6,000 people in its first two days online. If you’re using R to augment your work in SAS, SPSS … Continue reading →
NOTE: Enterprise Guide vs DI Studio – What’s the difference?
A favourite interview question of mine is: Compare and contrast SAS 9’s stored process server and workspace server. This question is very good at revealing whether candidates actually understand some of what’s going on behind the scenes of SAS 9. I mentioned this back in 2010, together with some notes on my expectations for an answer.
I was amused to see Michelle Homes post another of my favourite interview questions on the BI Notes blog recently: What’s the difference between SAS Enterprise Guide and SAS DI Studio? This question, and the ensuing conversation, establishes whether the candidate has used either or both of the tools, and it reveals how much the candidate is thinking about their environment and the tools within.
For me, there are two key differences: metadata, and primary use.
Michelle focuses on the former and gives a very good run-down of the use of metadata in Data Intergration Studio (and the little use in Enteprise Guide).
With regards to primary use, take a look at the visual nodes available in the two tools. The nodes in DI Studio are focused upon data extraction, transformation and loading (as you would expect), whilst the nodes in Enterprise Guide (EG) are focused upon analysing data. Sure, EG has nodes for sorting, transposing and other data-related activities (including SQL queries), but the data manipulation nodes are not as extensive as DI Studio. In addition to sorting and transposing, DI Studio offers nodes that understand data models, e.g. an SCD loader and a surrogate key generator (I described slowly changing dimensions (SCDs) and other elements of star schema data models in a post in 2009). On the other hand, EG has lots of nodes for tabulating, graphing, charting, analysing, and modelling your data.
One final distinction I’d draw is that EG’s nodes are each based around one SAS procedure, whilst DI’s nodes are based around an ETL technique or requirement. You can see that DI Studio was produced for a specific purpose, whilst EG was produced as a user friendly layer to put on top of the SAS language and thereby offers a more generalistic solution.
For the most part, I’m stating the obvious above, but the interview candidate’s answer to the question provides a great deal of insight into their approach to their work, their sense of curiosity and awareness, and their technical insight.
Follow me on Twitter: @aratcliffeuk
See an audiovisual recording on my SAS Global Forum 2013 paper Visual Techniques for Problem Solving and Debugging