> -----Original Message----- > From: SAS(r) Discussion [mailto:SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of > Burgess, Otto > Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2012 11:04 AM > To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU > Subject: base sas vs. r > > So we have base SAS and only base SAS licensed on one LPAR > > We are debating moving some test systems from this LPAR to another and > since they use SAS, it would need to be moved too, along with any > processes that use SAS > > I have suggested looking at using R instead of SAS > > Any thoughts? > > I have never used R myself > > Does R mostly cover 100% of at least base SAS? > > Thanks

Well, the short answer to your question about coverage is yes (... no ... uhh, maybe?).

R is a very capable programming platform, albeit very different in philosophy from SAS. Pretty much everything you might like to do in SAS can be done in R, some things more easily, some more difficult.

The major limitation in R comes from the fact that R processes everything in memory. So as a practical matter you are limited to the amount of memory you have available. In addition, 32-bit integers are used for indexing objects (whether you are working on 32-bit or 64-bit platforms). There are some projects working on high performance computing and big data both in the commercial and non-commercial sectors, but haven't followed them closely.

Without knowing a whole lot more about what resources you have in terms of hardware and programmers, and legacy code, and what size data you work with, and ..., it is hard to know whether R would be viable for your purposes.

Sorry, I can't be of much more help,

Dan

Daniel J. Nordlund Washington State Department of Social and Health Services Planning, Performance, and Accountability Research and Data Analysis Division Olympia, WA 98504-5204