Technology Tales

Claude Code is a command-line tool designed for developers that allows direct interaction with large codebases through a terminal interface. It can rapidly search through millions of lines of code, provide detailed explanations of project structures and architectures, and automate complex development workflows that would traditionally require switching between multiple tools. The system integrates with popular development platforms like GitHub and GitLab, enabling users to handle complete development cycles from reading issues through to submitting pull requests without leaving the terminal. It offers intelligent code analysis that understands dependencies and project organisation, allowing it to perform sophisticated multi-file edits whilst maintaining code integrity.

SAS Webinars

A range of webinars and events are available, focusing on topics such as AI technologies, data analytics and their applications across sectors including healthcare, government, banking and education. These sessions explore subjects like synthetic data, machine learning in SAS Viya, agentic AI and ethical considerations in AI governance, with specific emphasis on improving decision-making, enhancing operational efficiency and addressing industry-specific challenges. Events include live and on-demand presentations, with dates spanning from February to October 2026 and cover collaborations with institutions like Purdue University and AWS, as well as practical guidance on implementing AI solutions and leveraging analytics for business transformation. Resources are also provided to support technical learning, industry trends and the development of skills in data management and AI innovation.

Configure SAS to Run the Python Language

Administrators can configure SAS to run Python code in either standard or lockdown mode, depending on the use case. For use with PROC FCMP, Python 2.7 or later is required, and the administrator must set two environment variables,

MAS_M2PATH and MAS_PYPATH, within the sas.compute.server startup commands configuration instance, pointing respectively to the mas2py.py file and the Python executable. To enable PROC PYTHON and Python code to run in lockdown mode, Python 3.0 or later is required, along with the Pandas DataFrames package, and the administrator must set the PROC_PYPATH variable to the Python executable path, while the PROC_M2PATH variable, which points to the directory containing the sas2py.py interface file, is already set by default following deployment.

Open Source from SAS Software

SAS Institute, headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, maintains an active open-source presence on GitHub under the handle sassoftware, with 150 public repositories and 39 listed members. The organisation develops and shares a range of tools centred on its SAS and SAS Viya platforms, including a Visual Studio Code extension for SAS language support, Python packages for interfacing with SAS systems and Viya integration, and infrastructure tooling built with Terraform and Ansible for deploying Viya on cloud environments such as Microsoft Azure. Additional projects cover areas such as AI agent development, monitoring and logging for Kubernetes deployments, Helm charts for marketing solutions and a Model Context Protocol server for executing SAS code remotely. The most frequently used programming languages across the repositories are Python, SAS, Jupyter Notebook, Shell and Go.

MCP servers extend agent mode functionality in VS Code by providing specialised tools for various tasks including connecting to databases, invoking APIs and performing automated operations. The available servers span multiple categories, with developer tools offering integration with platforms like GitHub for repository management, Figma for design extraction, Playwright for browser automation and Sentry for error analysis. Productivity-focused servers connect to project management platforms such as Notion, Linear, Asana and Atlassian services, whilst also providing workflow automation through Zapier and task breakdown capabilities. Data and analytics servers enable interaction with databases like DuckDB, Neon Postgres and MongoDB, alongside analytics platforms including PostHog and Microsoft Clarity for gathering user behaviour insights. Business service integrations cover payment processing through Stripe, PayPal and Square, customer support via Intercom and site building through Wix and Webflow. Cloud and infrastructure servers provide management capabilities for Azure resources, DevOps operations, Terraform infrastructure as code and Convex backend services, creating a comprehensive ecosystem for development and business operations within the VS Code environment.

JuliaCon2021 DataFrames.jl Tutorial

A tutorial on DataFrames.jl, created for JuliaCon2021 by Bogumił Kamiński, is hosted as a public repository on GitHub and has since been updated to work with Julia 1.9.0 and DataFrames.jl 1.5.0. To run it, users need to clone the repository locally, start Julia using the julia --project command and then instantiate the required packages, which include CSV, CategoricalArrays, Chain, GLM, IJulia, Plots and StatsPlots. Once those steps are complete, the tutorial is launched via Jupyter Notebook by opening the Tutorial.ipynb file. Additional learning material on DataFrames.jl can be found in its official documentation and on the author's blog.

The SAS Developer Portal serves as a comprehensive platform enabling developers to integrate SAS artificial intelligence and analytics capabilities with open source technologies. The portal provides extensive REST API documentation across multiple categories including automated machine learning, cloud analytic services, data management, fraud detection, healthcare applications, and visualisation tools. Developers can access resources for integrating SAS with various programming languages such as Python, R, Lua, and Java, whilst also utilising software development kits and frameworks to embed SAS insights into custom applications and dashboards. The platform supports SAS Viya programming and CAS actions for data processing and analytics operations, complemented by tools like the Visual Studio Code extension. Key solutions include Customer Intelligence 360 for marketing automation, SAS Viya Workbench for cloud-based analytics, and SAS 360 Match for advertising delivery, all underpinned by trustworthy AI principles emphasising transparency and accountability. The portal connects developers through community forums and GitHub repositories containing code examples and collaborative resources.

This is a public GitHub repository that serves as a collaborative platform for sharing SAS Studio Custom Steps, which are user interface tools that enable SAS Studio users on SAS Viya platforms to complete specific tasks through standardised workflows. The repository contains over 100 custom steps spanning various categories including data quality operations, natural language processing, computer vision, machine learning, cloud integration, file management, and synthetic data generation. Contributors have developed tools for tasks such as data anonymisation, sentiment analysis, image processing, database connections, API interactions, and automated report generation. The repository operates under an Apache 2.0 licence and welcomes community contributions through established guidelines, providing comprehensive documentation and tutorials to help users implement these custom steps within their SAS Studio environments. Recent activity shows ongoing maintenance with regular updates to documentation, bug fixes, and the addition of new functionality, particularly in areas like large language model integration and advanced analytics workflows.

The SAS Airflow Provider is an Apache 2.0 licensed open-source package that enables users to execute SAS Studio Flows and Jobs within Apache Airflow workflows. The provider offers comprehensive functionality including the ability to run SAS Studio Flows stored on file systems or in SAS Content, selection of compute contexts for execution, optional return of SAS logs to Airflow, parameter specification for code generation, proper handling of return codes with exception raising for failed flows, and flexible authentication through either OAuth tokens or username-password combinations. Installation can be accomplished through PyPI or by building from the repository sources, whilst connections to SAS Viya require configuration through the Airflow interface with host, login credentials, and optional OAuth token specification in JSON format. The provider supports TLS verification settings and custom certificate bundles for secure connections, and includes example DAG's for implementation guidance, though users must first create SAS Studio Flows or Job Definitions before referencing them in their workflows.

This Visual Studio Code extension provides comprehensive support for the SAS programming language, enabling users to connect directly to both SAS Viya and SAS 9.4 servers to run code within the familiar development environment. The extension offers syntax highlighting, code completion, help documentation, and snippets for SAS programming, whilst also supporting SQL, Python, and Lua syntax highlighting capabilities. Users can navigate SAS Content and libraries through an integrated table viewer, create notebooks for multiple programming languages, and benefit from features such as code folding, outline views, and line commenting functionality. The open-source project operates under an Apache 2.0 licence and actively welcomes community contributions, with support available through SAS Communities, comprehensive documentation, and GitHub issue tracking. Recent development activity has focused on enhancing file navigation capabilities, improving dependency management, and expanding multilingual support across various European and Asian languages.