Ted,

BTW, great blog. My rss feed is broken so I only get a chance to read everything when you post this regular update: thank you.

The "Hello World" example you posted is using ASP.NET which is web server technology. An equivalent from SAS would use IntrNet or Integration technologies via ASP.NET or J2EE. Neither SAS code choice would be a simple:

data _null_ ; put "Hello World" ; run;

To be fair, the equivalent C# code for "Hello World" would be:

using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Text;

namespace ConsoleApplication2 { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { Console.WriteLine("Hello World"); } } }

Of this code, in Visual Studios which most people use, the total typing is primarily the string "Hello World" since all of the other code is generated and Intellisense enables auto-completion of the rest. Also, you could strip this code way down by removing the using statements and the namespace pieces.

While Microsoft definitely competes against SAS and vice-versa, I have never seen Microsoft use any negative language toward SAS. The example on the blog is from a Microsoft office in South Africa and the quotes are from a customer. I go to the Microsoft conferences and they actually have a lot of deep, genuine respect for SAS. They will compete, no illusions there, but they admire SAS and hope to emulate what they have done.

Leveraging their core competencies together can make for a great application.

My .01,

Alan Savian "Bridging SAS and Microsoft Technologies"

-----Original Message----- From: SAS(r) Discussion [mailto:SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of tedconway Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 1:35 AM To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU Subject: 3/15-3/27 Unofficial SAS Weblog Posts

3/15-3/27 Unofficial SAS Weblog Posts http://sas.weblogsinc.com

NEWS: We Built This SUGI... (3/27/2006) http://sas.weblogsinc.com/2006/03/27/news-we-built-this-sugi/

MISC: The Other SUGI (3/26/2006) http://sas.weblogsinc.com/2006/03/26/misc-the-other-sugi/

NEWS: Oracle Serves Up BI Leftovers (3/25/2006) http://sas.weblogsinc.com/2006/03/25/news-oracle-serves-up-bi-leftovers/

MISC: How Does Your Analytic Environment Rate? (3/21/2006) http://sas.weblogsinc.com/2006/03/21/misc-how-does-your-analytic-environment -rate/

NEWS: SAS Science Fair Winners Announced (3/20/2006) http://sas.weblogsinc.com/2006/03/20/news-sas-science-fair-winners-announced /

NEWS: Springtime in BISUG (3/19/2006) http://sas.weblogsinc.com/2006/03/19/news-springtime-in-bisug/

MISC: 2006 SASware Election Results (3/18/2006) http://sas.weblogsinc.com/2006/03/18/misc-2006-sasware-election-results/

NEWS: Zdeb Web (3/17/2006) http://sas.weblogsinc.com/2006/03/17/news-zdeb-web/

NEWS: SAS March Madness (3/16/2006) http://sas.weblogsinc.com/2006/03/16/news-sas-march-madness/

MISC: SAS Urban Legends (3/15/2006) http://sas.weblogsinc.com/2006/03/15/misc-sas-urban-legends/