Data storage type matters

Despite most sources tell that the storage type in stata should not matter, it is worth checking whether this is the case for your dataset. I just came across a situation where two identically constructed datasets (one stored in default type (float) and one stored in double) generated different output. Also before that i encountered a problem with person identifiers in the GSOEP if using the default data storage. If your dataset is not huge (with the GSOEP it still works quite ok) it might be worth to take the safe side and use

 set type double 

before you assemble your data set. This saves the data in the most precise way stata offers.

Prevent variable abbreviation in Stata

In many cases, variable abbreviation is a handy tool in Stata (e.g. writing w instead of wage if wage is the only variable name starting with w). When using large numbers of variables with similar names, however, it can be quite dangerous, especially when do-files are run at once.

An easy way to prevent any variable abbreviation is stating:

set varabbrev off, permanent