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Interview with Ron Cody
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Authorline catches up with Ron Cody as he eagerly awaits the publication of his new book
Learning SAS by Example: A Programmer's Guide.
- Authorline (AL): Who are you targeting with your book?
- Ron Cody (RC):: EVERYONE! Actually, beginning to intermediate SAS programmers. There might even be some tidbits for advanced programmers.
- (AL): What features of the book are you especially pleased with?
- (RC): The EXAMPLE approach makes this book unique. If you ask most programmers how they learn to program or how to understand a SAS feature, they
will tell you that they want to see an example. Every example in the book is followed by a detailed explanation of how the program works.
- (AL): How will your book benefit SAS users?
- (RC): I hope that besides being a book that teaches how to write SAS programs, this book should be useful as a reference book. Although there
are separate books for such topics as PROC TABULATE, PROC REPORT, ODS, etc. each of these topics is covered in enough detail to get users started using
these features.
- (AL): What did you learn while writing this book that would be important for other authors to know?
- (RC): You have to realize the enormous time commitment you need to make before starting on a project like this. I kept wanting to include more and
more topics and examples and the book kept getting longer and longer. Perhaps I should have called it "The BIG SAS Book!"
- (AL): How did you decide to publish with SAS?
- (RC): That's easy. It is a pleasure working with SAS publishing and they have the experience to edit and produce SAS documentation. SAS
Institute also has the best access to SAS users. Finally, when you write a book for SAS, you have access to SAS developers, SAS software, and SAS documentation.
- (AL): Your book will be going to the printer in just a few weeks. How does it feel to be in the home stretch of such a long project?
- (RC): This is a GREAT feeling. However, I was on an airplane the other day, with my laptop (of course) and I realized I didn't have anything to do!
I took out a novel and read. When you finish a large project like this, after the relief of realizing you are finished, you have to figure out what to do with
all your spare time (that doesn't take very long).
- (AL): What advice would you give to potential authors?
- (RC): Before starting on a SAS book, it would be a good idea to talk with several of the other SAS authors and discuss your project.
- (AL): How were you able to balance your time between your career and writing this book?
- (RC): Since I am "semi-retired" it was easier to find time to write. Also, I have been traveling a lot giving SAS courses around the country.
Having several hours of undisturbed time on a plane (or sitting in an airport) is a great time to get some writing done.
- (AL): When you aren't writing or consulting, how do you like to spend your free time?
- (RC): I enjoy riding my bicycle and geocaching with my wife (check out www.geocaching.com and look up our geocaching name: Jan and the Man).
I also try to get in one or two SCUBA diving trips with my family each year.
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Ron Cody, Ed.D, is a retired professor at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and now works as a private consultant and a
national instructor for SAS Institute Inc. A SAS user since 1977, Ron has the extensive knowledge and innovative style that have made him a
popular presenter at local, regional, and national SAS conferences. He has authored or coauthored numerous books such as
SAS Functions by Example; SAS Programming by Example; Applied Statistics and the SAS Programming Language, Fifth Edition;
The SAS Workbook; The SAS Workbook Solutions; Cody's Data Cleaning Techniques Using SAS Software and
Longitudinal Data and SAS: A Programmer's Guide as well as countless articles in medical and scientific journals.
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