Data Management Solutions Using SAS Hash Table Operations: A Business Intelligence Case Study - Paperback

by Paul Dorfman (Author), Don Henderson (Author)

Hash tables can do a lot more than you might think! Data Management Solutions Using SAS Hash Table Operations: A Business Intelligence Case Study concentrates on solving your challenging data management and analysis problems via the power of the SAS hash object, whose environment and tools make it possible to create complete dynamic solutions. To this end, this book provides an in-depth overview of the hash table as an in-memory database with the CRUD (Create, Retrieve, Update, Delete) cycle rendered by the hash object tools. By using this concept and focusing on real-world problems exemplified by sports data sets and statistics, this book seeks to help you take advantage of the hash object productively, in particular, but not limited to, the following tasks:

• select proper hash tools to perform hash table operations
• use proper hash table operations to support specific data management tasks
• use the dynamic, run-time nature of hash object programming
• understand the algorithmic principles behind hash table data look-up, retrieval, and aggregation
• learn how to perform data aggregation, for which the hash object is exceptionally well suited
• manage the hash table memory footprint, especially when processing big data
• use hash object techniques for other data processing tasks, such as filtering, combining, splitting, sorting, and unduplicating.

Author Biography

Paul Dorfman is an independent consultant. He specializes in developing SAS software solutions from ad hoc programming to building complete data management systems in a range of industries, such as telecommunications, banking, pharmaceutical, and retail. A native of Ukraine, Paul started using SAS while pursuing his degree in physics in the late 1980s. In 1998, he pioneered using hash algorithms in SAS programming by designing a set of hash routines based on SAS arrays. With the advent of the SAS hash object, Paul was one of the first to use it practically and to author a SUGI paper on the subject. In the process, he introduced hash object techniques for metadata-based parameter type matching, sorting, unduplication, filtering, data aggregation, dynamic file splitting, and memory usage optimization. Paul has presented papers at global, regional, and local SAS conferences and meetings since 1998.