Re: st: Split code into programs or .do files?

[Richard Herron <richard.c.herron@gmail.com>]

Thanks, Glenn and Martin, for the feedback and links!

Richard Herron


On Mon, Jul 2, 2012 at 3:06 AM, Maarten Buis <maartenlbuis@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 29, 2012 at 8:18 PM, Richard Herron wrote:
>> Yesterday Tyler Cowen linked to a code guide for research
>> assistants at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
>> http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/06/how-should-economists-write-code.html
>>
>> I have a question about a code block that uses a program "main" to
>> call several sub-programs. I quote from page 11:
>>
>> In long scripts, comments can be used to make clear how the code is
>> organized. In many languages, the
>> modular structure of the code makes clear how it is organized. This is
>> natural in Matlab, Java, etc. In Stata,
>> we might write
>>
>> * PROGRAMS
>> program main
>> prepare_data
>> run_regressions
>> output_tables
>> end
>> program prepare_data
>> X = format_x_vars
>> Y = format_y_vars
>> ...
>> end
>> program format_x_vars
>> ...
>> end
>
>> Is this conventional?
>>
>> J. Scott Long's "Workflow of Data Analysis" suggests splitting code
>> into a series of .do files to be called by a master .do file. Is there
>> equivalence between these two approaches? Or does each have a best use
>> case?
>
> The idea of splitting up code in smaller more manageble pieces is I
> think good advise. However, I don't think there is much added value in
> creating these blocks of code as separate programs and than calling
> these programs. The only thing it does is mark specific bits of code
> as belonging together, which can be done more clearly by either
> storing those bits in a separate .do file, or, for smaller
> "sub-blocks" of code, using comments. The creation of separate
> programs only adds extra layer of complexity when debugging the code
> without any benefit
>
>> Are there economists that share the entirety of their Stata code
>> for papers to learn best practices?
>
> Uli Kohler puts the .do files for all his publications online:
> http://www.wzb.eu/de/personen/ulrich-kohler?s=12918
>
> Hope this helps,
> Maarten
>
> --------------------------
> Maarten L. Buis
> Institut fuer Soziologie
> Universitaet Tuebingen
> Wilhelmstrasse 36
> 72074 Tuebingen
> Germany
>
>
> http://www.maartenbuis.nl
> --------------------------
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