DS2 is a SAS-proprietary programming language available in Base SAS. It is designed for parallel processing using an intriguing combination of SQL and traditional DATA step syntax. In this overview, you will learn:

• Basic DS2 programing syntax
• Similarities and differences from traditional DATA step programming. 
• Thumb rules for choosing DS2 or DATA step 
• How to access and manipulate the database table data at full precision using ANSI data types like DECIMAL, BIGINT, and VARCHAR. 
• How to convert DATA step programs into DS2 threads to enable parallel processing.

Mark Jordan  (a.k.a. SAS Jedi) grew up in northeast Brazil as the son of Baptist missionaries. He served 20 years as a US Navy submariner, pursuing his passion for programming as a hobby. Upon retiring from the Navy, he turned his hobby into a dream job and has been a SAS programmer ever since. Mark writes and teaches a broad spectrum of SAS programming classes, and his book, Mastering the SAS® DS2 Procedure: Advanced Data Wrangling Techniques is in its second edition. When he isn’t writing, teaching, or blogging Jedi SAS Tricks, Mark enjoys playing with his grand and great-grandchildren, hanging out at the beach, and reading science fiction novels. His secret obsession is flying toys – kites, rockets, drones – and though he tries to convince Lori that they are for the grandkids, she isn't buying it. Mark lives in historic Williamsburg, VA with his wife Lori, and Stella, their cat. To connect with Mark, check out his SAS Press Author page, follow him on Twitter @SASJedi or connect on Facebook  or LinkedIn.