Programming Resources (R & SAS)

Free, high-quality learning links for MSc/PhD students (beginner-friendly)

R programming resources

Core pathway (start here)

R for Data Science (R4DS) — the main course companion

• https://r4ds.hadley.nz
  
• Best for: students new to programming who need a practical workflow
  
• Topics: importing, wrangling, visualization, functions, iteration, reporting

Hands-On Programming with R — gentle intro to programming concepts

• https://rstudio-education.github.io/hopr/
  
• Best for: understanding objects, vectors, functions, and control flow

RStudio — R Learning Paths

• https://education.rstudio.com/learn/
  
• Best for: Learning R from beginner to advanced

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R for epidemiology and health research

The Epidemiologist’s R Handbook — applied epi/public health workflows

• https://epirhandbook.com
  
• Best for: health-focused examples and “how to do the thing” guidance
  
• Great for: descriptive epi, cleaning, regression workflows, reporting

R4DS Online Learning Community — guided practice + peer support

• https://rfordatasci.com
  
• Best for: structured learning, exercises, accountability

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Working with larger datasets (scaling up)

Efficient R Programming — performance and memory awareness

• https://csgillespie.github.io/efficientR/
  
• Best for: moving beyond toy datasets; faster, cleaner code

TipPractical “large data” mindset (for health admin datasets)

• Read only the columns you need
  
• Use joins carefully (check row counts before/after)
  
• Summarize early; avoid duplicating huge objects
  
• Learn to profile slow steps (later in the term)

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Reproducible reporting (required skill for health research)

R Markdown: The Definitive Guide

• https://bookdown.org/yihui/rmarkdown/
  
• Best for: transparent, reproducible analyses

Quarto Guide (Posit)

• https://quarto.org/docs/guide/
  
• Best for: reports, slide decks, websites, and publishing course work

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SAS programming resources

Core pathway (start here)

SAS Documentation (official)

• https://documentation.sas.com
  
• Best for: authoritative reference on DATA step and PROC basics
  
• Use for: DATA step, PROC SORT, PROC FREQ, PROC MEANS, PROC SQL

SAS for Students (Academic / Skill Builder landing)

• https://www.sas.com/en_ca/learn/academic-programs/students.html
  
• Best for: student learning pathways and getting access via academic programs (availability varies)

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SAS for applied statistics (health-relevant examples)

UCLA IDRE SAS resources (excellent applied tutorials)

• https://stats.oarc.ucla.edu/sas/
  
• Best for: clear explanations + worked examples
  
• Great for: regression, categorical data, data management patterns

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SAS + large datasets (real-world patterns)

SAS Global Forum proceedings (conference papers)

• https://www.sas.com/en_us/events/sas-global-forum.html
  
• Best for: practical approaches to large tables, optimization, reporting

Lex Jansen (searchable SAS conference paper archive)

• https://www.lexjansen.com
  
• Best for: finding “how do I do X in SAS?” by use case (including health/claims-style problems)

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Bookmark list (fast access)

R

• R4DS: https://r4ds.hadley.nz
  
• HOPR: https://rstudio-education.github.io/hopr/
  
• RStudio Learn R: https://education.rstudio.com/learn/
  
• Epi R Handbook: https://epirhandbook.com
  
• Efficient R: https://csgillespie.github.io/efficientR/
  
• R Markdown: https://bookdown.org/yihui/rmarkdown/
  
• Quarto: https://quarto.org/docs/guide/

SAS

• SAS Docs: https://documentation.sas.com
  
• SAS students: https://www.sas.com/en_ca/learn/academic-programs/students.html
  
• UCLA IDRE SAS: https://stats.oarc.ucla.edu/sas/
  
• SAS Global Forum: https://www.sas.com/en_us/events/sas-global-forum.html
  
• Lex Jansen: https://www.lexjansen.com