Every SAS® programmer will be well versed in using PROC SORT. Are we sorting data when we do not need to? Unnecessary sorting can be time consuming, particularly when using large datasets. Is there any way that SAS will allow us to classify or merge data without needing to sort it first?

Using indexes and hash objects are techniques that the SAS programmer can use to eliminate (or at least reduce) reliance on the SORT procedure. This paper will present some examples of how to easily include these techniques in your programming and allow you to “perish the sort”.