Is stop statement necessary?

[SAS_inquisitive]

The two prgrams meant to create a macro variable &_name_. Is stop statment redundant in first progam as program will terminate eventually anyway?

data _null_;
	set sashelp.class;

	if _n_=1 then
		do;
			call symput('_name_',name);
			stop;
		end;
run;


data _null_;
	set sashelp.class;

	if _n_=1 then
		do;
			call symput('_name_',name);
		end;
run;

%put &_name_;

[data_null__]

STOP; prevents the data step from doing nothing for the other 18 records in SASHELP.CLASS.

[SAS_inquisitive]

@ data_null_, thanks. I have seen people coding both ways.

[data_null__ · Accepted solution]

Stopping when the work is done makes it look like you know what you're doing.

[Tom]

Actually if you have the STOP statement you do not need the IF statement.

data _null_;
  set sashelp.class;
  call symput('_name_',name);
  stop;
run;