Thirty Years with Stata (A Retrospective)

This volume is a sometimes serious and sometimes whimsical retrospective of Stata, its development, and its use over the last 30 years.

The view from the inside opens with an essay by Bill Gould, Stata's president and cofounder, that discusses the challenges and concepts that guided the design and implementation of Stata. This is followed by an interview of Bill by Joe Newton that discusses Bill's early interest in computing, his early work on a program for matching prom dates in the days when you had to purchase time on computers, and further exploration of the guiding principles behind Stata. Finally, Sean Becketti, Stata's first employee, delves into the not-to-be-missed culture of Stata in its infancy.

The view from the outside comprises 14 essays by prominent researchers and members of the Stata community. Most discuss Stata's use and evolution in disciplines such as behavioral sciences, business, economics, epidemiology, time series, political science, public health, public policy, veterinary epidemiology, and statistics. Some take a sweeping overview. Others are more intimate personal recollections. Mostly, we simply wanted to celebrate the relationship between Stata users and Stata software. We hope that this volume holds something interesting for everyone.