Chapter 12: Complexity vs. Simplicity

12.1 Building Job Security

12.1.1 Programming Challenge #8

12.1.2 Solution

12.2 Ease of Use

12.3 Checking Parameters

12.4 Portability

12.5 Complexity vs. Speed

12.6 Miscellaneous Applications

Simplicity has obvious advantages. It makes macros easier to write, understand, and maintain. When is complexity the right path? Many legitimate answers exist, such as:

•    When the end users are not so sophisticated and require the macros to do more of the work. Chapter 11 illustrated how to end a program when an error condition occurs, while providing a useful message. This chapter will explore additional topics, such as checking the macro parameters before starting to execute.

•    When the macro must adapt to many ...

Get SAS Macro Language Magic now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.