The DATA step is a real workhorse for virtually all SAS users. Its power and flexibility are probably among the key
reasons why the SAS language has become so widely used by data analysts, data managers and other “IT professionals”.
However, at least since version 6.06, PROC SQL, which is the SAS implementation of Structured
Query Language, has provided another extremely versatile tool in the base SAS arsenal for data manipulation.
Still, for many of us who began using SAS prior to the addition of SQL or learned from hardcore DATA step programmers,
change may not come easily. We are often too pressed for time in our projects to learn something
new or venture from the familiar, even though it may save us time and make us stronger programmers in the long
run. Often SQL can accomplish the same data manipulation task with considerably less code than more traditional
SAS techniques.