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Understanding the Difference Between WHERE and IF Statements in SAS

In SAS, the main difference between WHERE and IF statements lies in their functionality and application.

WHERE Statement

The WHERE statement is mainly used in SAS procedures and DATA steps to subset observations based on specified conditions. It is applied during data processing to select specific rows that meet the criteria defined in the WHERE statement.

IF Statement

On the other hand, the IF statement is primarily used in SAS DATA steps to conditionally process data observations. It evaluates a specified condition for each observation and executes the specified action if the condition is met.

Key Differences

• The WHERE statement is used to subset observations based on conditions, while the IF statement is used for conditional processing within SAS DATA steps.
• WHERE statement filters data before it enters the data step, whereas the IF statement filters data within the data step.

Understanding the distinctions between the WHERE and IF statements in SAS is crucial for efficient data manipulation and conditional processing in SAS programming.

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