Learn more about MATLAB

Documentation

The MATLAB program provides extensive documentation, in both printable and HTML format, to help you learn about and use all of its features. If you are a new user, begin with this Getting Started guide. It covers all the primary MATLAB features at a high level, including many examples.

To view the online documentation, select Help > Product Help in MATLAB. Online help appears in the Help browser, providing task-oriented and reference information about MATLAB features. For more information about using the Help browser, see Getting Help.

The MATLAB documentation is organized into these main topics:

• Desktop Tools and Development Environment — Startup and shutdown, arranging the desktop, and using tools to become more productive with MATLAB

• Data Import and Export — Retrieving and storing data, memory-mapping, and accessing Internet files

• Mathematics — Mathematical operations

• Data Analysis — Data analysis, including data fitting, Fourier analysis, and time-series tools

• Programming Fundamentals — The MATLAB language and how to develop MATLAB applications

• Object-Oriented Programming — Designing and implementing MATLAB classes

• Graphics — Tools and techniques for plotting, graph annotation, printing, and programming with Handle Graphics^® objects

• 3-D Visualization — Visualizing surface and volume data, transparency, and viewing and lighting techniques

• Creating Graphical User Interfaces — GUI-building tools and how to write callback functions

• External Interfaces — MEX-files, the MATLAB engine, and interfacing to Sun Microsystems™ Java™ software, COM, Web services, and the serial port

There is reference documentation for all MATLAB functions:

• Function Reference — Lists all MATLAB functions, listed in categories or alphabetically

• Handle Graphics Property Browser — Provides easy access to descriptions of graphics object properties

• C and Fortran API Reference — Covers functions used by the MATLAB external interfaces, providing information on syntax in the calling language, description, arguments, return values, and examples

The MATLAB online documentation also includes

• Examples — An index of examples included in the documentation

• Release Notes — New features, compatibility considerations, and bug reports for current and recent previous releases

• Printable Documentation — PDF versions of the documentation, suitable for printing

In addition to the documentation, you can access demos for each product from the Help browser. Run demos to learn about key functionality of MathWorks™ products and tools.

Product Overview

Starting and Quitting the MATLAB Program

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