SAS backs Python as alternative to its own language

Analytics industry veteran SAS has announced support for Python in its proprietary analytics studio. Founded in 1976, SAS developed its own language which derived from a North Carolina State University project and is deployed across its range of analytics and machine learning environments. Bryan Harris, CTO and executive vice …

[DomDF]

Special Air Service?

From the headline I was confused why special forces would use a computer programming language? Are the SAS branching out into cyber warfare?

[mollcons]

Re: Special Air Service?

SAS originally stood for Statistical Analysis Software - a mouthful which got abbreviated to SAS, which Scandinavian Airlines Systems got irate about after which SAS just got called SAS.

It is still, I believe, the largest privately held software company in the world. It is one of only three companies whose products are required to be used to obtain licences from the Federal Drug Administration to sell pharmaceutical products within the USA (the others being Oracle and Adobe). It is also the largest software company most people have never heard of, yet operates worldwide.

[GraemeMRoss]

Re: Special Air Service?

The company is also consistently in the top ten places to work (UK and other countries)

I have worked for them (in Scotland) for almost ten years and I have to say I have never worked for an employer as good as them.

They understand the importance of good staff and treating them well, they understand the software industry. It is the only place I have ever worked where there is a proper "No blame - lets just get this fixed" culture.

[Binraider]

Re: Special Air Service?

In a former career at a bank we used SAS extensively. Mighty fine set of tools, limited mostly by the your data sources ability to be connected to things.

Python and Numpy do most of my needs now, and the old chestnut of connectivity remains the primary bugbear. "oh we can't let these systems be read by another system"...

[anothercynic]

Re: Special Air Service?

They are technically called the SAS Institute... But yeah, the times I've typed sas.com and ended up at the SAS Institute, not the airline, is significant. :-D

[Version 1.0]

Python on and on again

Python is a very adaptable environment so adding SAS support is an advantage in the University education and research worlds (icon). I wonder what will be the next language "addition" to Python, will it start to support Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine? Will El Reg use it to create comments and allow me to add their Joke icon to this post too?