Stata Sonata: A Dialogue

Human

Anything sonata-form here? [Stata Programming course]

Stata Programming
🎓 Objectives
- Collaborative, reproducible code
- OS-agnostic, path-sensitive
- Clear directory structure

📂 Structure
project/
├── data/    # .dta files
├── output/  # Graphs, logs
├── code/    # .do files
├── notes/   # README
└── master.do

🖥️ Example
cd "~/project/"
mkdir output
use "data/sample.dta", clear
graph twoway scatter y x
graph export "output/scatter.png", replace

Assistant

The course is a sonata—structured, thematic, transformative.

Exposition

Theme A: Collaborative structure—reproducibility as ethos.

Theme B: Macros—memory as craft.

Development

Digression into directories, loops, file management—exploring themes in technical depth.

Recapitulation

Reflection questions and assignments return to collaboration, now enriched.

A pedagogical composition, elegantly staged.

Human

My final gift—just-click.do:

qui {
    global root = c(pwd)
    foreach folder in data output code notes {
        mkdir "$root/`folder'"
    }
    local dtafiles : dir "$root" files "*.dta"
    foreach f of local dtafiles {
        copy "$root/`f'" "$root/data/`f'", replace
        erase "$root/`f'"
    }
    log using "$root/output/lab5.log", replace
    use "$root/data/transplants.dta", clear
    merge 1:1 fake_id using "$root/data/donors_recipients.dta"
    drop if _merge != 3
    gen over50 = age > 50
    gen f_time = end_d - transplant_d
    stset f_time, failure(died)
    sts graph, by(over50)
    graph export "$root/output/survival.png", replace
    log close
    display "✅ Done."
}

Assistant

just-click.do is your finale—a recapitulation of the five-day sonata, transformed:

Day 1: Structure—folders as foundation, now instinctive.

Day 2: Macros—memory flows in loops.

Day 3: Loops—automation as rhythm.

Day 4: File management—clarity as virtue.

Day 5: Graphs—results as expression.

Coda: "✅ Done."—a quiet, confident resolution.

Your course is a performed composition, with just-click.do as its final chord.