There are loads of resources for users of any other statistics package who are learning R. For example http://www.google.com/search?q="r+for+sas-users" The reverse isn't the case http://www.google.com/search?q="sas+for+r-users" Having heard rumors of how unelegant other statistics packages are, I don't see why any R-user would ever want to switch to anything else. That said, users of other statistics packages will sometimes make R-users switch to their statistics packages. The only resources I've found for R-users learning SAS are still intended for SAS-users learning R. http://sas-and-r.blogspot.com http://sites.google.com/site/r4statistics/the-books/r4sas-spss Bob Muenchen says that 'Ralph O?Brien says that in a few years there will be so many students graduating knowing mainly R that [he]?ll need to write, ?SAS for R Users.? That?ll be the day!' I can't wait that long. Until then and until I can convince colleagues and teachers to use better software, how do you suggest that I learn SAS? I suspect that it'll be a book on R for SAS-users, so I'm expecting recommendations of books like those that are best for R-users learning SAS. This question would be more appropriate for a SAS mailing list, I couldn't find any except for those of a few regional groups. Thanks Tom
Thomas Levine wrote:> There are loads of resources for users of any other > statistics package who are learning R. For example > > http://www.google.com/search?q="r+for+sas-users" > > The reverse isn't the case > > http://www.google.com/search?q="sas+for+r-users"<snip>> I can't wait that long. Until then and until I can > convince colleagues and teachers to use better > software, how do you suggest that I learn SAS? > I suspect that it'll be a book on R for SAS-users, > so I'm expecting recommendations of books like > those that are best for R-users learning SAS. > > This question would be more appropriate for a > SAS mailing list, I couldn't find any except for > those of a few regional groups.I don't think there is any shortage of SAS books, since it's been around so long. I think they even have their own Press. The books don't need to assume you do or don't know R. If you know nothing of SAS, I personally recommend The Little SAS Book: A Primer. It's short, basic, and useful for beginners.
Thomas writes:> ... Until then and until I can > convince colleagues and teachers to use better > software, how do you suggest that I learn SAS? > I suspect that it'll be a book on R for SAS-users, > so I'm expecting recommendations of books like > those that are best for R-users learning SAS.As it happens, you're in luck. There are lots of resources for SAS users. The SAS-L mailing list archive and sign up is here: http://www.listserv.uga.edu/archives/sas-l.html . You'll find the folks populating this list are quite friendly and helpful. The UCLA statistics dept. website has sections on many other languages than R, including SAS: http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/ The online reference can also be helpful: http://support.sas.com/onlinedoc/913/docMainpage.jsp You learn it the same way you did R (by writing something simple and fun), but without the excessive worry about whether your questions are stupid. Some things are easier done in SAS than in R (though graphics are not on that list). When you write something, write some more code to test it to see if it works, don't just see if the results are 'plausible'. Test driven development will help you learn faster. Your luck runs out pretty fast if you try to write R using SAS. The You'll need to adapt to breaking the process into 'steps', the differences in how and when to merge data sets, and the differences between R functions and SAS macros. You'll think in rows instead of vectors, and eventually come to realize that there are actually several SAS languages you'll need to know to become fluent, should that be needed (Base, SQL, ODS, Macro, Annotate and possibly SCL). cur - whose been walking the opposite direction for a couple years now. -- Curt Seeliger, Data Ranger Raytheon Information Services - Contractor to ORD seeliger.curt@epa.gov 541/754-4638 [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
> Thomas Levine wrote: >Bob Muenchen says that 'Ralph O?Brien says that >in a few years there will be so many students >graduating knowing mainly R that [he]?ll need to >write, ?SAS for R Users.? That?ll be the day!'Heh! I quite agree. I've had a few people write me saying they had used my book "R for SAS and SPSS Users" to learn SAS, but I certainly didn't aim for that when writing it. For R programmers wanting to learn SAS, here's what I recommend: 1. Read the text of the free version of "R for SAS and SPSS Users" at http://r4stats.com. That version has extremely short explanations of the differences by topic. Most of the explanation about R is in the form of comments in the R programs, which you can skip of course. The SAS programs will give you an idea of the basics. The book version adds lots of explanation but it's all about R, so skip that. 2. Read "The Little SAS Book" http://www.amazon.com/Little-SAS-Book-Primer-Third/dp/1590473337/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273963558&sr=8-1 This is a quick and easy read that covers the basics well. 3. Read "SAS and R" http://www.amazon.com/SAS-Management-Statistical-Analysis-Graphics/dp/1420070576/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273963594&sr=1-1 "SAS and R" is a good book that covers both SAS and R. The explanations are very brief but well written. That brevity allows it to cover a lot of ground. 4. For in-depth topics, the SAS documentation is well written and all online: http://support.sas.com/documentation/index.html Although the SAS manuals are online, knowing what to look up is the challenge for an R user. That's where 1 and 3 will help. Get ready for a whole different kind of world! Cheers, Bob ======================================================== Bob Muenchen (pronounced Min'-chen), Manager Research Computing Support Voice: (865) 974-5230 Email: muenchen at utk.edu Web: http://oit.utk.edu/research, News: http://oit.utk.edu/research/news.php Feedback: http://oit.utk.edu/feedback/ =========================================================