Today, I am going to share with you the comprehensive difference between SAS vs R to find out which one is best for statistics operations. Let’s start with the definition of both these technologies:-
SAS stands for Statistical Analysis System. Nowadays, SAS has become one of the major choices of every business. That’s why it is becoming the market leader in the commercial analytics space.
SAS offers a variety of functions and a great UI. These features help individuals learn this software quickly.
In addition, individuals receive technical support whenever they require it. SAS is a bit costly and doesn’t provide the latest and most effective statistical functions.
R is open-source software. It was developed by the researchers. That’s why the majority of professors and researchers are using R.
The best part of R programming is that it is an open-source programming language. Due to its open-source nature, all the latest techniques get released immediately with R.
This language has plenty of documentation and a community to help its users whenever they encounter trouble using R.
SAS vs R Trending Graph: Which is in demand, SAS or R?
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SAS and R are both highly demanded software. That is why the graph of both keeps fluctuating. But if we see the graph individually, then it is clear that R is in high demand. Because of this, various job opportunities are beneficial for you.
SAS popularity is decreasing, so should I learn it in 2021?
Well, SAS has numerous advantages, and one of the best uses is that it can deploy end-to-end infrastructure (like Data warehouses, reporting, analytics, Visual Analytics, and Data quality). This is mitigated with the support/integration of R on platforms such as Tableau and HANA. That is why big companies are still using this software. Moreover, it is easy to understand and learn, so it is always good to learn it if you are a beginner.
If you are facing any issue related to statistics, we can provide you with the best statistics assignment help service.
Major difference between SAS and R (Tabular form)
| Parameter | SAS | R |
| Availability | SAS is commercial software. | R is open-source software that anyone can use. |
| Statistical Abilities | SAS provides a robust package that offers all kinds of statistical analysis and methods. | R is an open-source tool; that is why it keeps on updating. |
| Updates | SAS is comparatively less updated. | Data analysis is highly interactiveFlexible statistical analysis |
| Graphical Capabilities | SAS provides great graphical support. But, it does not allow customization. | The graphical support of the R tool is quite poor. |
| Support for Deep learning | Deep learning is still in its initial stages, so it needs a lot of work before it matures. | R grants advanced deep learning integrations for better usages. |
| Debugging | SAS offers easy debugging methods and techniques. | Debugging is quite a tricky technique and method. |
| Best features | VariablesFunctionsNested rulesMixinsMaintainable | R programmers are required to address tricky & lengthy codes. |
| Famous companies using | Airbnb, Asana, StackShare, Hubspot | Instacart, Opbandit, Adroll, Custora |
| Ease of Learning | Jobs in the R have kept increasing over the last several years. | SAS is the most accessible tool for learning. Therefore, people with limited knowledge of SQL can understand it easily. |
| File Sharing | It is not possible to share SAS-generated files with other users who do not use SAS. | But with R, it is much easier to share R-generated files with other users. |
| Market Share | Currently, SAS is facing strong competition with R and different Data analytical tools. This led to a decline in the market share of SAS. | R growth has been increasing in the last five years. Therefore, its market share is rapidly growing. |
| Customer Support | It offers dedicated customer support. | It has the biggest online communities. However, it does not have customer service support. |
| TIOBE Rating | 22 | 16 |
| Job Scenario | Various big companies still work with the SAS software. | Jobs in the R keep increasing over the last several years. |
Key differences: SAS vs R
Availability / Price
I’ve already mentioned that SAS is commercial software, not open-source. It is one of the most expensive statistics software programs, and most professionals are unable to purchase it.
However, the majority of large enterprises use this software, which is why it holds a larger market share than R. In other words, SAS is not for individuals but for organizations.
On the other hand, R is open-source software. Therefore anyone can download it and use it by paying any charges. Price is a big concern between SAS vs R.
Ease of learning
SAS is easy to learn for anyone, whether a professional or a beginner. It essentially uses PROC SQL, which is simple to understand for people who already know SQL. SAS also offers a great user interface and plenty of tutorials.
These tutorials are quite helpful in understanding the SAS software. In addition, the software offers a complete user manual upon purchase.
On the other hand, R is a tough programming language. It is quite tough for the beginner to use the R programming language.
Mastering the R programming language requires lots of effort and dedication. R is a low-level programming language, so it requires writing longer code.
Progress in the application
R is an open-source programming language, so it always gets the latest features faster than SAS. On the other hand, SAS provides the latest features in new updates.
SAS’s development process is now becoming faster. On the other hand, some professors used R in the past. The best part of SAS upgrade is that all its latest features are analyzed in the managing environment.
On the other hand, the latest update of R does not include well-analyzed features. In fact, R provides an open-source community where programmers and researchers contribute to improving it.
Statistical Capacity
Nowadays, SAS programs and SAS stat pack a strong packs. In addition, it covers all the entire techniques and statistical evaluation virtually. On the other hand, R is an open-source programming language.
Any individual can submit their program and contribute to developing the R libraries. This ensures that the most advanced cutting-edge techniques are always released in R. Thanks to individual efforts, CRAN has more than 15,000 programs.
In addition, some of the most advanced techniques, like GIMLET and AdaBoost RF, can only be accessible with R. You can also obtain some experimental programs using R. Some of the most powerful data miners also use R to construct their models.
On the other hand, SAS is paid software with technical support. It is used in several mission duties where other techniques cannot be prettied to creep in.
All the latest developments and new statistical techniques are always checked before the release of the new software.
Customer care support & community
R is known for its largest online community. Since R is an open-source language, there is no customer care support. If a user faces any problems with R, he/she can ask for help in the R community.
On the other hand, SAS software provides dedicated customer care support along with the community. Whenever the user faces any problem with the SAS software, they can ask technical support for help.
On the other hand, if they want to stay updated with software features and new releases, they can ask the community for help.
Also Read
- The Best Guide on the Comparison Between SPSS vs SAS
- R vs Stata: Which One is Best For Data Science?
- R vs Matlab: Which one is more powerful and Why?
SAS vs R: Rating and industry usage.
SAS is quite easy to learn, compared to R. But if we consider other points like advancements in the tools, data handling capabilities, and more, then R is the clear winner.
Overall, we can say that R is very useful to use. Moreover, it provides more functionalities than SAS. But various industries use SAS and R, and these are:
Here, we can say that there are various industrial applications of both SAS and R.
SAS vs R: Salary
Key Points
Is SAS easier than R?
If you are new to the analytics industry, it is beneficial to go with SAS. It has simple, easy-to-understand concepts, and it holds the highest job market shares.
Which is better, SAS or R?
Several companies that were preferring SAS due to security issues are switching to other tools. However, various companies still rely on this software.
At the same time, R is ideal for experts who work with deep, cost-effective data analysis. Therefore, it depends on your purpose for using the software.
Conclusion
In the end, we can say that there is not a solid winner between SAS vs R. Based on the points above, we can’t say that anyone is going to predominate the other one. You can choose the best one on the basis of your conditions and needs if you need r programming help from our experts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are SAS skills in demand?
According to a survey by Payscale and MONEY, SAS is among the top 21 most demanded career skills. Moreover, it helps in securing high salary packages, so it is not incorrect to say that SAS is in high demand.
Can you use R in SAS?
R can be a good option for SAS as it helps with statistical computing and graphics. R offers different techniques, including powerful graphics packages like ggplot2 and grid.
What are functions in R?
Functions in R are “self-contained” modules with some kind of data structures that process the data and return the result.
