DS2 is a SAS programming language available in Base SAS 9.4+ and in all versions of SAS Viya. The language is designed for simple, safe parallel processing using an intriguing combination of SQL and traditional DATA step syntax. DS2 is also capable of accessing and processing database high-precision numeric values such as BIGINT and DECIMAL without any loss of precision. The paper discusses the benefits of converting a base SAS DATA step to DS2 when the DATA step process is CPU-bound and shows the amazing boost in processing speed that can be achieved by running the process in CAS on SAS Viya.
I learned about DS2 and began writing the first SAS training course for DS2 programming in 2013. I quickly developed a fondness for this amazingly versatile language. This presentation is intended to acquaint you with some of the most useful features in DS2, including:
- Basic DS2 programming syntax
- Similarities to and differences from traditional DATA step programming.
- Thumb rules for choosing DS2 or DATA step
- How to access and manipulate database table data at full precision when processing ANSI data types like DECIMAL, BIGINT, and VARCHAR.
- How to convert DATA step programs into DS2 threads to enable parallel processing.
Link to presentation ZIP
