\begin{Op.Ed} After 30 years of programming I am returning to what I learned in university: it's either data structure (compiled) or algorithm (executed).   I like @ChrisHemedinger's notes that many statements are available as subroutines to a wide variety of procedures.   I am writing a paper for SESUG.2017 where I highlight the differences between local and global variables and making the point that we don't think of the several global statements -- filename, libname, options, running text (titles, footnotes) -- as making entries in the global symbol table.   I make a point in my Style Guide to differentiate between the compiler directives --- attribute, (length, format, label), array, drop/keep, retain, etc. --- and the executed statements -- assignment , do, if, link.   Once I began to read and write my programs in two passes: data structure, then algorithm, my debugging and testing time went down my an order of magnitude.   \end{Op.Ed}   Ron Fehd which? ever! maven   ... View more