MATLAB

MATLAB (matrix laboratory) is a fourth-generation high-level

programming language and interactive environment for numerical
computation, visualization and programming.

MATLAB is developed by MathWorks.

It allows matrix manipulations; plotting of functions and data;

implementation of algorithms; creation of user interfaces;
interfacing with programs written in other languages, including C,
C++, Java, and FORTRAN; analyze data; develop algorithms; and
create models and applications.

It has numerous built-in commands and math functions that help

you in mathematical calculations, generating plots, and performing
numerical methods.

MATLAB's Power of Computational Mathematics

MATLAB is used in every facet of computational mathematics.
Following are some commonly used mathematical calculations
where it is used most commonly −

 Dealing with Matrices and Arrays

 2-D and 3-D Plotting and graphics
 Linear Algebra
 Algebraic Equations
 Non-linear Functions
 Statistics
 Data Analysis
 Calculus and Differential Equations
 Numerical Calculations
 Integration
 Transforms
 Curve Fitting
 Various other special functions

Features of MATLAB
Following are the basic features of MATLAB −
  It application It is a high-level language for numerical computation, visualization and
application development.

 It problem It also provides an interactive environment for iterative exploration, design

and problem solving.

 It Fourier It provides vast library of mathematical functions for linear algebra,

statistics, Fourier analysis, differential analysis, filtering, optimization, numerical
integration and solving ordinary differential equations.

 It provides built-in graphics for visualizing data and tools for creating custom plots.

 MATLAB's quality MATLAB's programming interface gives development tools for

improving code quality maintainability and maximizing performance.

 It provides tools for building applications with custom graphical interfaces.

 It applications It provides functions for integrating MATLAB based algorithms with

external applications and languages such as C, Java, .NET and Microsoft Excel.

Uses of MATLAB
the MATLAB is widely used as a computational tool in science and engineering
encompassing the fields of fields of physics, chemistry, math and all engineering streams. It
is used in a range of applications including −
 Signal Communications Signal Processing and Communications
 Image Processing Image and Video Processing
 Control Systems Control Systems
 Test Measurement Test and Measurement
 Computational Finance Computational Finance
 Computational Biology Computational Biology

Understanding the MATLAB Environment

MATLAB development IDE can be launched from the icon created on
the desktop. The main working window in MATLAB is called the
desktop. When MATLAB is started, the desktop appears in its default
layout −
The desktop has the following panels −

 Current Folder − This panel allows you to access the project

folders and files.



 Command Window − This is the main area where commands
can be entered at the command line. It is indicated by the
command prompt (>>).
  Workspace − The workspace shows all the variables created
and/or imported from files.

 Command History − This panel shows or return commands

that are entered at the command line.

MATLAB environment behaves like a super-complex calculator. You

can enter commands at the >> command prompt.

MATLAB is an interpreted environment. In other words, you give a

command and MATLAB executes it right away.

Hands on Practice
Type a valid expression, for example,

5 + 5

And press ENTER

When you click the Execute button, or type Ctrl+E, MATLAB
executes it immediately and the result returned is −

ans = 10

Let us take up few more examples −

3 ^ 2 % 3 raised to the power of 2

When you click the Execute button, or type Ctrl+E, MATLAB

executes it immediately and the result returned is −

ans = 9

Another example,

7/0 % Divide by zero

When you click the Execute button, or type Ctrl+E, MATLAB

executes it immediately and the result returned is −

ans = Inf
warning: division by zero

Another example,

732 * 20.3

When you click the Execute button, or type Ctrl+E, MATLAB

executes it immediately and the result returned is −

ans = 1.4860e+04

MATLAB provides some special expressions for some mathematical

symbols, like pi for π, Inf for ∞, i (and j) for √-1 etc. Nan stands for
'not a number'.

Use of Semicolon (;) in MATLAB

Semicolon (;) indicates end of statement. However, if you want to
suppress and hide the MATLAB output for an expression, add a
semicolon after the expression.

For example,

x = 3;
y = x + 5

When you click the Execute button, or type Ctrl+E, MATLAB

executes it immediately and the result returned is −

y= 8

Adding Comments
The percent symbol (%) is used for indicating a comment line. For
example

x = 9 % assign the value 9 to x

You can also write a block of comments using the block comment
operators % { and % }.

The MATLAB editor includes tools and context menu items to help
you add, remove, or change the format of comments.

Commonly used Operators and Special Characters

MATLAB supports the following commonly used operators and
special characters −

Operator Purpose

+ Plus; addition operator.

- Minus; subtraction operator.

* Scalar and matrix multiplication operator.

.* Array multiplication operator.

 ^ Scalar and matrix exponentiation operator.

.^ Array exponentiation operator.

\ Left-division operator.

/ Right-division operator.

.\ Array left-division operator.

./ Array right-division operator.

Colon; generates regularly spaced elements and

:
represents an entire row or column.

Parentheses; encloses function arguments and

()
array indices; overrides precedence.

[] Brackets; enclosures array elements.

. Decimal point.

… Ellipsis; line-continuation operator

Comma; separates statements and elements in a

,
row

Semicolon; separates columns and suppresses

;
display.

Percent sign; designates a comment and specifies

%
formatting.

_ Quote sign and transpose operator.

._ Nonconjugated transpose operator.

= Assignment operator.

Special Variables and Constants

MATLAB supports the following special variables and constants −
 Name Meaning

ans Most recent answer.

eps Accuracy of floating-point precision.

i,j The imaginary unit √-1.

Inf Infinity.

NaN Undefined numerical result (not a number).

pi The number π

Naming Variables
Variable names consist of a letter followed by any number of letters,
digits or underscore.

MATLAB is case-sensitive.
Variable names can be of any length, however, MATLAB uses only
first N characters, where N is given by the
function namelengthmax.

Saving Your Work

The save command is used for saving all the variables in the
workspace, as a file with. mat extension, in the current directory.

For example,

save myfile
You can reload the file anytime later using the load command.
load myfile

In MATLAB environment, every variable is an array or matrix.

You can assign variables in a simple way. For example,

x = 3 % defining x and initializing it with a value

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result −

x=3

It creates a 1-by-1 matrix named x and stores the value 3 in its

element. Let us check another example,

x = sqrt(16) % defining x and initializing it with an

expression

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result −

x=4

Please note that −

 Once a variable is entered into the system, you can refer to it

later.
 Variables must have values before they are used.
 When an expression returns a result that is not assigned to any
variable, the system assigns it to a variable named ans, which
can be used later.
 For example,
 sqrt(78)
 MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the
following result −
 ans = 8.8318
 You can use this variable ans −
 sqrt(78);
 9876/ans
 MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the
following result −
 ans = 1118.2
 Let's look at another example −
 x = 7 * 8;
 y = x * 7.89
 MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the
following result −
  y = 441.84
 Multiple Assignments
 You can have multiple assignments on the same line. For
example,
 a = 2; b = 7; c = a * b
 MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the
following result −
 c = 14

I have forgotten the Variables!

The who command displays all the variable names you have used.
who

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result −

Your variables are:

a ans b c

The whos command displays little more about the variables −

 Variables currently in memory

 Type of each variables
 Memory allocated to each variable
 Whether they are complex variables or not
whos

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result −

Attr Name Size Bytes Class

==== ==== ==== ==== =====
a 1x1 8 double
ans 1x70 757 cell
b 1x1 8 double
c 1x1 8 double

Total is 73 elements using 781 bytes

The clear command deletes all (or the specified) variable(s) from
the memory.
clear x % it will delete x, won't display anything
clear % it will delete all variables in the workspace
% peacefully and unobtrusively

Long Assignments
Long assignments can be extended to another line by using an
ellipsis (...). For example,

initial_velocity = 0;
acceleration = 9.8;
time = 20;
final velocity = initial_velocity + acceleration * time

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result −

final_velocity = 196

The format Command

By default, MATLAB displays numbers with four decimal place
values. This is known as short format.

However, if you want more precision, you need to use

the format command.

The format long command displays 16 digits after decimal.

For example −

format long
x = 7 + 10/3 + 5 ^ 1.2

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result−

x = 17.2319816406394
Another example,

format short
x = 7 + 10/3 + 5 ^ 1.2

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result −

x = 17.232

The format bank command rounds numbers to two decimal places.

For example,

format bank
daily_wage = 177.45;
weekly_wage = daily_wage * 6

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result −

weekly_wage = 1064.70

MATLAB displays large numbers using exponential notation.

The format short e command allows displaying in exponential form

with four decimal places plus the exponent.

For example,

format short e
4.678 * 4.9

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result −

ans = 2.2922e+01

The format long e command allows displaying in exponential form

with four decimal places plus the exponent. For example,

format long e
x = pi

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result −

x = 3.141592653589793e+00

The format rat command gives the closest rational expression

resulting from a calculation. For example,

format rat
4.678 * 4.9

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result −

ans = 34177/1491

Creating Vectors
A vector is a one-dimensional array of numbers. MATLAB allows
creating two types of vectors −

Row vectors

 Column vectors
Row vectors are created by enclosing the set of elements in square
brackets, using space or comma to delimit the elements.

For example,

r = [7 8 9 10 11]

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result −

r=
7 8 9 10 11

Another example,
r = [7 8 9 10 11];
t = [2, 3, 4, 5, 6];
res = r + t

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result −

res =

9 11 13 15 17

Column vectors are created by enclosing the set of elements in

square brackets, using semicolon(;) to delimit the elements.

c = [7; 8; 9; 10; 11]

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result −

c=
7
8
9
10
11

Creating Matrices
A matrix is a two-dimensional array of numbers.

In MATLAB, a matrix is created by entering each row as a sequence

of space or comma separated elements, and end of a row is
demarcated by a semicolon. For example, let us create a 3-by-3
matrix as −

m = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9]

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following
result −
m=
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
MATLAB is an interactive program for numerical computation and
data visualization. You can enter a command by typing it at the
MATLAB prompt '>>' on the Command Window.

In this section, we will provide lists of commonly used general

MATLAB commands.

Commands for Managing a Session

MATLAB provides various commands for managing a session. The
following table provides all such commands −

Command Purpose

clc Clears command window.

clear Removes variables from memory.

exist Checks for existence of file or variable.

global Declares variables to be global.

help Searches for a help topic.

lookfor Searches help entries for a keyword.

quit Stops MATLAB.

who Lists current variables.

whos Lists current variables (long display).

Commands for Working with the System

MATLAB provides various useful commands for working with the
system, like saving the current work in the workspace as a file and
loading the file later.
It also provides various commands for other system-related
activities like, displaying date, listing files in the directory, displaying
current directory, etc.

The following table displays some commonly used system-related

commands −

Command Purpose

cd Changes current directory.

date Displays current date.

delete Deletes a file.

diary Switches on/off diary file recording.

dir Lists all files in current directory.

load Loads workspace variables from a file.

path Displays search path.

pwd Displays current directory.

save Saves workspace variables in a file.

type Displays contents of a file.

what Lists all MATLAB files in the current directory.

wklread Reads .wk1 spreadsheet file.

Input and Output Commands

MATLAB provides the following input and output related commands
−

Command Purpose

disp Displays contents of an array or string.

fscanf Read formatted data from a file.

format Controls screen-display format.

fprintf Performs formatted writes to screen or file.

input Displays prompts and waits for input.

; Suppresses screen printing.

The fscanf and fprintf commands behave like C scanf and printf
functions. They support the following format codes −

Format Code Purpose

%s Format as a string.

%d Format as an integer.

%f Format as a floating point value.

%e Format as a floating point value in scientific notation.

%g Format in the most compact form: %f or %e.

\n Insert a new line in the output string.

\t Insert a tab in the output string.

The format function has the following forms used for numeric
display −

Format
Display up to
Function

format short Four decimal digits (default).

format long 16 decimal digits.

format short e Five digits plus exponent.

format long e 16 digits plus exponents.

format bank Two decimal digits.

format + Positive, negative, or zero.

format rat Rational approximation.

format compact Suppresses some line feeds.

format loose Resets to less compact display mode.

Vector, Matrix and Array Commands

The following table shows various commands used for working with
arrays, matrices and vectors −

Command Purpose

cat Concatenates arrays.

find Finds indices of nonzero elements.

length Computes number of elements.

linspace Creates regularly spaced vector.

logspace Creates logarithmically spaced vector.

max Returns largest element.

min Returns smallest element.

prod Product of each column.

reshape Changes size.

size Computes array size.

sort Sorts each column.

sum Sums each column.

eye Creates an identity matrix.

ones Creates an array of ones.

zeros Creates an array of zeros.

cross Computes matrix cross products.

dot Computes matrix dot products.

det Computes determinant of an array.

inv Computes inverse of a matrix.

pinv Computes pseudoinverse of a matrix.

rank Computes rank of a matrix.

rref Computes reduced row echelon form.

cell Creates cell array.

celldisp Displays cell array.

cellplot Displays graphical representation of cell array.

num2cell Converts numeric array to cell array.

deal Matches input and output lists.

iscell Identifies cell array.

Plotting Commands
MATLAB provides numerous commands for plotting graphs. The
following table shows some of the commonly used commands for
plotting −

Command Purpose

axis Sets axis limits.

fplot Intelligent plotting of functions.

grid Displays gridlines.

plot Generates xy plot.

print Prints plot or saves plot to a file.

title Puts text at top of plot.

xlabel Adds text label to x-axis.

ylabel Adds text label to y-axis.

axes Creates axes objects.

close Closes the current plot.

close all Closes all plots.

figure Opens a new figure window.

gtext Enables label placement by mouse.

hold Freezes current plot.

legend Legend placement by mouse.

refresh Redraws current figure window.

set Specifies properties of objects such as axes.

subplot Creates plots in subwindows.

text Places string in figure.

bar Creates bar chart.

loglog Creates log-log plot.

polar Creates polar plot.

semilogx Creates semilog plot. (logarithmic abscissa).

semilogy Creates semilog plot. (logarithmic ordinate).

stairs Creates stairs plot.

stem Creates stem plot.

So far, we have used MATLAB environment as a calculator. However,

MATLAB is also a powerful programming language, as well as an
interactive computational environment.

In previous chapters, you have learned how to enter commands

from the MATLAB command prompt. MATLAB also allows you to
write series of commands into a file and execute the file as
complete unit, like writing a function and calling it.
The M Files
MATLAB allows writing two kinds of program files −

 Scripts − script files are program files with .m extension. In

these files, you write series of commands, which you want to
execute together. Scripts do not accept inputs and do not
return any outputs. They operate on data in the workspace.
 Functions − functions files are also program files with .m
extension. Functions can accept inputs and return outputs.
Internal variables are local to the function.
You can use the MATLAB editor or any other text editor to create
your. mfiles. In this section, we will discuss the script files. A script
file contains multiple sequential lines of MATLAB commands and
function calls. You can run a script by typing its name at the
command line.

Creating and Running Script File

To create scripts files, you need to use a text editor. You can open
the MATLAB editor in two ways −

 Using the command prompt

 Using the IDE
If you are using the command prompt, type edit in the command
prompt. This will open the editor. You can directly type edit and
then the filename (with .m extension)
edit
Or
edit <filename>

The above command will create the file in default MATLAB directory.
If you want to store all program files in a specific folder, then you
will have to provide the entire path.

Let us create a folder named progs. Type the following commands at

the command prompt (>>) −

mkdir progs % create directory progs under default

directory
chdir progs % changing the current directory to progs
edit prog1.m % creating an m file named prog1.m

If you are creating the file for first time, MATLAB prompts you to
confirm it.

Alternatively, if you are using the IDE, choose NEW -> Script. This
also opens the editor and creates a file named Untitled. You can
name and save the file after typing the code.

Type the following code in the editor −

NoOfStudents = 6000;
TeachingStaff = 150;
NonTeachingStaff = 20;

Total = NoOfStudents + TeachingStaff ...

+ NonTeachingStaff;
disp(Total);

After creating and saving the file, you can run it in two ways −

 Clicking the Run button on the editor window or

 Just typing the filename (without extension) in the command
prompt: >> prog1

The command window prompt displays the result −

6170
Example

Create a script file, and type the following code −

a = 5; b = 7;
c = a + b
d = c + sin(b)
e = 5 * d
f = exp(-d)

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

c = 12
d = 12.657
e = 63.285
f= 3.1852e-06

MATLAB does not require any type declaration or dimension

statements. Whenever MATLAB encounters a new variable name, it
creates the variable and allocates appropriate memory space.

If the variable already exists, then MATLAB replaces the original

content with new content and allocates new storage space, where
necessary.

For example,

Total = 42

The above statement creates a 1-by-1 matrix named 'Total' and

stores the value 42 in it.

Data Types Available in MATLAB

MATLAB provides 15 fundamental data types. Every data type stores
data that is in the form of a matrix or array. The size of this matrix
or array is a minimum of 0-by-0 and this can grow up to a matrix or
array of any size.
The following table shows the most commonly used data types in
MATLAB −

Sr.N
Data Type & Description
o.

1 int8
8-bit signed integer

2 uint8
8-bit unsigned integer

3 int16
16-bit signed integer

4 uint16
16-bit unsigned integer

5 int32
32-bit signed integer

6 uint32
32-bit unsigned integer

7 int64
64-bit signed integer

8 uint64
64-bit unsigned integer

9 single
single precision numerical data

10 double
double precision numerical data

11 logical
logical values of 1 or 0, represent true and false respectively

12 char
character data (strings are stored as vector of characters)

cell array
13 array of indexed cells, each capable of storing an array of a different dimension and data
type
 structure
14 C-like structures, each structure having named fields capable of storing an array of a
different dimension and data type

15 function handle
pointer to a function

16 user classes
objects constructed from a user-defined class

17 java classes
objects constructed from a Java class

Example

Create a script file with the following code −

str = 'Hello World!'

n = 2345
d = double(n)
un = uint32(789.50)
rn = 5678.92347
c = int32(rn)

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

str = Hello World!

n = 2345
d = 2345
un = 790
rn = 5678.9
c = 5679

Data Type Conversion

MATLAB provides various functions for converting, a value from one
data type to another. The following table shows the data type
conversion functions −

Function Purpose
 char Convert to character array (string)

int2str Convert integer data to string

mat2str Convert matrix to string

num2str Convert number to string

str2double Convert string to double-precision value

str2num Convert string to number

native2unicode Convert numeric bytes to Unicode characters

unicode2native Convert Unicode characters to numeric bytes

base2dec Convert base N number string to decimal number

bin2dec Convert binary number string to decimal number

dec2base Convert decimal to base N number in string

dec2bin Convert decimal to binary number in string

dec2hex Convert decimal to hexadecimal number in string

hex2dec Convert hexadecimal number string to decimal number

hex2num Convert hexadecimal number string to double-precision number

num2hex Convert singles and doubles to IEEE hexadecimal strings

cell2mat Convert cell array to numeric array

cell2struct Convert cell array to structure array

cellstr Create cell array of strings from character array

 mat2cell Convert array to cell array with potentially different sized cells

num2cell Convert array to cell array with consistently sized cells

struct2cell Convert structure to cell array

Determination of Data Types

MATLAB provides various functions for identifying data type of a
variable.

Following table provides the functions for determining the data type
of a variable −

Function Purpose

is Detect state

isa Determine if input is object of specified class

iscell Determine whether input is cell array

iscellstr Determine whether input is cell array of strings

ischar Determine whether item is character array

isfield Determine whether input is structure array field

isfloat Determine if input is floating-point array

ishghandle True for Handle Graphics object handles

isinteger Determine if input is integer array

isjava Determine if input is Java object

islogical Determine if input is logical array

isnumeric Determine if input is numeric array

isobject Determine if input is MATLAB object

isreal Check if input is real array

isscalar Determine whether input is scalar

isstr Determine whether input is character array

isstruct Determine whether input is structure array

isvector Determine whether input is vector

class Determine class of object

validateattributes Check validity of array

whos List variables in workspace, with sizes and types

Example

Create a script file with the following code −

x = 3
isinteger(x)
isfloat(x)
isvector(x)
isscalar(x)
isnumeric(x)
x = 23.54
isinteger(x)
isfloat(x)
isvector(x)
isscalar(x)
isnumeric(x)
x = [1 2 3]
isinteger(x)
isfloat(x)
isvector(x)
isscalar(x)
x = 'Hello'
isinteger(x)
isfloat(x)
isvector(x)
isscalar(x)
isnumeric(x)

When you run the file, it produces the following result −

x=3
ans = 0
ans = 1
ans = 1
ans = 1
ans = 1
x = 23.540
ans = 0
ans = 1
ans = 1
ans = 1
ans = 1
x=

1 2 3

ans = 0
ans = 1
ans = 1
ans = 0
x = Hello
ans = 0
ans = 0
ans = 1
ans = 0
ans = 0