Welcome, New SAS user!

[ChrisHemedinger]

It's been over a decade since I co-wrote the first edition of SAS For Dummies.  In case you're not familiar with the Dummies series, this style of book is aimed at a novice audience -- no previous knowledge about the topic is assumed or required.  Dummies books are written with a friendly, sometimes almost folksy, tone.  I've heard from many people who love this style of learning.  And I heard from others who told me (politely) that they wouldn't be caught dead reading a Dummies book.

As you probably know, SAS can be a complex topic. As I said in the SAS For Dummies introduction:

Although this book is titled SAS For Dummies, you absolutely need some smarts to get solid results using SAS. However, the overarching message of this book is that you don’t need to be an expert at using software. You just need to know what questions to ask, what data is needed to provide an answer, and how to interpret the results.

That's also the approach of these SAS Support Communities. It's a place where  SAS users of any experience level can ask questions and find their answers here.  Sometimes the biggest challenge is just deciding what to ask and how to ask it.  That's the thinking behind this special New Users board -- it's a safe place to ask naive questions, and experts are committed to guide you to the answers that you need.  No judgement -- even for dummies.

All you need to be successful is an open mind and a willingness to learn.  Who knows?  Maybe before too long, you will be the one answering the questions.

Best of luck in your SAS journey!

Chris Hemedinger

Head of SAS Online Communities

[jsaspelin]

Thank you very much Chris. I truly appreciate ANY and all insight. I have been a MS SQL Server query builder for years and though changing to PROC SQL has its moments, I find myself having the most difficulty with searching the SAS Knowledgebase and knowing if I am looking in the right spot for the correct product, etc... Only been doing it for 4 months, so I need to give it some time. Thank you again.

[sbxkoenk]

Hello @jsaspelin ,

Here's the SAS Knowledge base :
https://support.sas.com/en/knowledge-base.html

And if you are into Statistics, this FAQ-page is an indispensable source of information:

https://support.sas.com/kb/30/333.html

Koen

[Davnmu]

Hi all,

Completely new to SAS, I come from other programming areas background eg C/C++ and some SQL but totally new to SAS 9.4. I am currently commencing on some projects in SAS DIS and SAS EG. I know a little about both and I am currently doing my own self-paced learning in SAS programming essentials. I hope to be part of this blog. Thanks for this thread and cheers.

[lucymonoana]

Good day, i am very new to SAS. Have finance background and its my second week now reading SAS. just saw  'SAS for dummies' ,and i just cant wait to buy it . Please if you have any advise for me a new SAS user on how pass my very first Base SAS exam, how to prepare,I will very much appreciate it.

[sbxkoenk]

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@lucymonoana wrote:

Please if you have any advise for me a new SAS user on how pass my very first Base SAS exam, how to prepare,I will very much appreciate it.

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Hello @lucymonoana . Welcome !

I understand you want to pass a Base SAS certification exam.
Please note there's a board within this SAS Communities that is dedicated to Certification.

Home > Learn SAS > SAS Certification
https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Certification/bd-p/certification

Koen

[Lyka]

Hi! Nice to meet you all here

[Lyka]

Hi

[Jona10]

Hola