Hi SAS-L,

I used to be a firm believer that whatever Proc SQL can do, SAS (DATA & Proc) can do better. Recently I tried performing a summary using both Proc means and Proc SQL, and found Proc SQL taking less time than PROC means.

Here is the code I used

proc means data=test_data MISSING NOPRINT; class category; types category; output out=out_means sum(sales)=sum_sales ; run; proc sql _METHOD; create table out_sql as select category , sum(sales) as sum_sales from test_data group by category; quit; run;

Here is the log

242 proc means data=test_data MISSING NOPRINT; 243 class category; 244 types category; 245 output out=out_means 246 sum(sales)=sum_sales 247 ; 248 run;

NOTE: There were 407649 observations read from the data set WORK.TEST_DATA. NOTE: The data set WORK.OUT_MEANS has 29 observations and 4 variables. NOTE: PROCEDURE MEANS used (Total process time): real time 6.26 seconds cpu time 6.96 seconds

249 proc sql _METHOD; 250 create table out_sql as 251 select category , sum(sales) as sum_sales 252 from test_data 253 group by category;

NOTE: SQL execution methods chosen are:

sqxcrta sqxsumg sqxsort sqxsrc( WORK.TEST_DATA ) NOTE: Table WORK.OUT_SQL created, with 29 rows and 2 columns.

254 quit; NOTE: PROCEDURE SQL used (Total process time): real time 3.51 seconds cpu time 1.54 seconds

254! run;

Could someone please let me know the reason of this difference ??

Best regards, Diwakar Sharma +=========================================================+ This message may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you are not the addressee or authorized to receive this for the addressee, you must not use, copy, disclose or take any action based on this message or any information herein. If you have received this message in error, please advise the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete this message. Thank you for your cooperation. +=========================================================+