--- Tunga Kantarci <[email protected]> wrote:
> I am trying to make it clear to myself how stata is in programming.
> Many scholars I discussed with are hesitant to advise to program an
> econometric model in stata.
>
> I was planning to learn programming in oxmetrics, which inherits a
> clear 'c' type programming language.
>
> Is there anybody here whom is both proficient in stata as well as in
> oxmetrics (or at least gauss)?
> How would you compare the two programs?
>
> My understanding is that for non-programming purposes stata is very
> good:
> for data manipulation, ready procedures, graphing etc...
> In google you can easily find your way when you type "rename stata"
> for instance, if you wonder how to rename variables.
> For programming purposes it seems that I should go with another
> package, however.
>
> What is your experience? Is stata's programming language as clear as
> Ox's or Gauss's? Why many people learn an additional language of
> programming next to stata?
Stata has extensive programming capabilities. Prior to Stata 9 the
difference between Ox and Gauss and Stata was that Ox and Gauss where
lower level programming languages then Stata, that is, you had to
program more in Ox and Gauss then in Stata to achieve the same task.
This is an advantage because it allows more freedom, but it is also a
disadvantage because you have to do more work and you have more
opportunities of introducing a bug. After Stata 9 with the inclusion of
Mata, this distinction has dissapeared. I like the combination in Stata
of the higher level .ado language and the lower level Mata language.
-- Maarten
-----------------------------------------
Maarten L. Buis
Department of Social Research Methodology
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Boelelaan 1081
1081 HV Amsterdam
The Netherlands
visiting address:
Buitenveldertselaan 3 (Metropolitan), room Z434
+31 20 5986715
http://home.fsw.vu.nl/m.buis/
-----------------------------------------
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