Stata

Stata is a general-purpose statistical data analysis suite created by StataCorp in 1985 for Microsoft Windows OS. With over 35 years of experience in the field of data analysis in the fields of engineering, economics, political science, sociology, biomedicine, epidemiology and many other forms of research, each of the modern versions of this application can come in four specialized builds that are optimized for enhanced data acquisition, processing, analysis, and presentation techniques for different sizes of projects - Stata/IC  (standard version of the app), Stata/MP (for multiprocessor computers), Stata/SE (for optimized handling of large databases) and Numerics by Stata (for managing data in an embedded environment).

In its current advanced form, Stata data science software can be used for a wide array of tasks that include but are not limited to general data management, in-depth analysis, graphics creation, advanced simulations, data regressions, and much more. The functionality of this advanced app can be furthermore enhanced with custom programming that can adapt it to the specific needs of almost any modern research project and can even support the dissemination of user-created programs that can grow continuously.

Over the long history of this program, the user interface was initially fully focused on the command interface but starting with version 8 it introduced graphical UI that was drastically improved over the following years. At the time of writing this review, the most recent version of this app is Strata 16 which was released in the summer of 2019.

Strata focused on data management only in the active and virtual memory, which can limit its usefulness with very large datasets. The app is compatible with a wide array of data formats, including ASCII (CSV or databank) and commonly used spreadsheet formats (including Excel-compatible extensions). The native file format of Stata is SAS XPORT.

While this application has many advanced tools and services, global users have found it much more user-friendly and approachable than similar competing products. If any help is needed, the app offers built-in support in over 13 international languages. Most first-time users will focus on working with a single dataset, learning how to handle its analysis and graph-creation tools, but advanced users will unearth a wealth of advanced services that can chew through the most detailed and intricate data with ease.

The largest disadvantage of the Stata app is its focus on a single datasheet. Other competing apps in this space have adopted multiple datasheet processing years ago. Stata is a premium data analysis application optimized for all modern versions of Windows OS.