NetCourse^TM 151: Introduction to Stata Programming

Course content

Lecture 1: Organization of analysis

• Mechanics of using do-files, ado-files, and program define
• Programming as automating data-management and analysis
• Organization of multiple do-files
• Ensuring reproducibility
• Data verification (assert)
• Debugging (trace)
• Working with datasets too large to fit in memory
• Indexing (subscripting) observations
• assert as an alternative to branching
• Reading and processing relational datasets
• Consuming calculated results

Lecture 2: Macros, arguments, and looping

• Using macros to contain strings
• Using macros to contain numbers
• Using macros to pass and receive arguments with do-files
• Using macros to pass and receive arguments with programs
• Distinction between local and global macros
• Branching and looping
• Program style
• Shifting over lists
• Looping across observations
• Application: Listing data neatly (report writing and use of display)

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There is a one-week break between Lectures 2 and 3 in this course because we have found that the extra time is necessary for discussion.

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Lecture 3: Examples and applications

• Do-files, ado-files, and programs: when to use which
• Complicated data management example: processing hospital admission/discharge data and merging with patient file
• Working with dates
• Working with dates and time of day
• Programming bootstrapped standard errors
• Programming Monte Carlo simulations
• Use of postfile to program bootstraps and simulations beyond the capabilities of bootstrap and simulate

Lecture 4: Ado-files

• Organizing files and directories
• Writing real ado-files: command to run analysis do-files
• Automatically logging analysis
• Putting time-and-date stamps on analyses
• Error handling
• Writing online help files
• Temporary variables
• Temporarily destroying data
• Temporary files
• Analysis-specific ado-files
• General-purpose ado-files
• Converting analysis-specific to general-purpose ado-files
• More on display and producing formatted output
• Parsing commands with syntax
• Version control