Is SAS related to Mainframes

mkk157 · Active User Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 310

Dear All,

How SAS is related to Mainframes. Where we use SAS in Mainframe Applications. please clear my doubt.

Phrzby Phil · Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 6:34 pm

What exactly is your question? You say you are running it in m/f applications, so what do you mean by "related to"? Please clear my doubt as well.

cpuhawg · Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 6:41 pm

SAS is a programming language (much like COBOL, REXX, ASSEMBLER) that can be run on the mainframe or run on a server or PC. SAS can be run interactively or can be run as a batch job.

Devzee · Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:33 pm

SAS is very powerful programming language, mostly used to extract/ report purpose.

SAS can run on various platforms.

dick scherrer · Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 3:02 am

Hi MKK,

Is your question answered?

A bit of additional info:

Most applications do not use SAS. Very rarely is an entire application written in SAS. It IS a very powerful data analysis and reporting tool.

SAS is used by "power users" as often (or more often) than it is used by the application development staff. Of course, when they encounter problems, it is usually someone from the IT staff who helps out. . .

mkk157 · Active User Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 310

Hi,

My doubt is getting trained in SAS is an advantage or not as I am working for last 6 months on Mainframes.

dick scherrer · Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 8:38 pm

Hello,

If you have the opportunity to learn SAS, do so. It will not hurt anything and may be something a potential enployer would find valuable.

If you have been working with mainframes for 6 months and your goal is to develop mainframe applications, i would recommend that you spend more time learning COBOL, JCL, Utilities, and whatever data access method that is "standard" at your location (DB2, VSAM, other DB, etc).

Once you have exposure to the initial syntax/rules for those, real learning comes from doing repeatedly. If you are very fortunate, things will NOT always work the first time. Much knowledge is gained from figuring out why something abended or did not give the desired results. Preferable, this will happen when your testing and not when you are called at 3am because some critical production job abended.