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| Documentation → MATLAB |
| Contents | Index |
| Learn more about MATLAB |
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The MATLAB high-performance language for technical computing integrates computation, visualization, and programming in an easy-to-use environment where problems and solutions are expressed in familiar mathematical notation. Typical uses include
Math and computation
Algorithm development
Data acquisition
Modeling, simulation, and prototyping
Data analysis, exploration, and visualization
Scientific and engineering graphics
Application development, including graphical user interface building
MATLAB is an interactive system whose basic data element is an array that does not require dimensioning. It allows you to solve many technical computing problems, especially those with matrix and vector formulations, in a fraction of the time it would take to write a program in a scalar noninteractive language such as C or Fortran.
The name MATLAB stands for matrix laboratory. MATLAB was originally written to provide easy access to matrix software developed by the LINPACK and EISPACK projects. Today, MATLAB engines incorporate the LAPACK and BLAS libraries, embedding the state of the art in software for matrix computation.
MATLAB has evolved over a period of years with input from many users. In university environments, it is the standard instructional tool for introductory and advanced courses in mathematics, engineering, and science. In industry, MATLAB is the tool of choice for high-productivity research, development, and analysis.
MATLAB features a family of add-on application-specific solutions called toolboxes. Very important to most users of MATLAB, toolboxes allow you to learn and apply specialized technology. Toolboxes are comprehensive collections of MATLAB functions that extend the MATLAB environment to solve particular classes of problems. You can add on toolboxes for signal processing, control systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic, wavelets, simulation, and many other areas.
The MATLAB system consists of these main parts:
This part of MATLAB is the set of tools and facilities that help you use and become more productive with MATLAB functions and files. Many of these tools are graphical user interfaces. It includes: the MATLAB desktop and Command Window, an editor and debugger, a code analyzer, and browsers for viewing help, the workspace, and folders.
This library is a vast collection of computational algorithms ranging from elementary functions, like sum, sine, cosine, and complex arithmetic, to more sophisticated functions like matrix inverse, matrix eigenvalues, Bessel functions, and fast Fourier transforms.
The MATLAB language is a high-level matrix/array language with control flow statements, functions, data structures, input/output, and object-oriented programming features. It allows both "programming in the small" to rapidly create quick programs you do not intend to reuse. You can also do "programming in the large" to create complex application programs intended for reuse.
MATLAB has extensive facilities for displaying vectors and matrices as graphs, as well as annotating and printing these graphs. It includes high-level functions for two-dimensional and three-dimensional data visualization, image processing, animation, and presentation graphics. It also includes low-level functions that allow you to fully customize the appearance of graphics as well as to build complete graphical user interfaces on your MATLAB applications.
The external interfaces library allows you to write C and Fortran programs that interact with MATLAB. It includes facilities for calling routines from MATLAB (dynamic linking), for calling MATLAB as a computational engine, and for reading and writing MAT-files.
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Includes the most popular MATLAB recorded presentations with Q&A sessions led by MATLAB experts.
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