Overview of MATLAB Function Types
There are essentially two ways to create a new function for
your MATLAB application: in a command entered at run-time, or
in a file saved to permanent storage.
The command-oriented function, called an anonymous
function, is relatively brief in its content. It consists
of a single MATLAB statement that can interact with multiple
input and output arguments. The benefit of using anonymous functions
is that you do not have to edit and maintain a file for functions
that require only a brief definition.
There are several types of functions that are stored in files
(called M-files). The most basic of these are primary functions and subfunctions.
Primary functions are visible to other functions outside of their
M-file, while subfunctions, generally speaking, are not. That is,
you can call a primary function from an anonymous function or from
a function defined in a separate M-file, whereas you can call a subfunction
only from functions within the same M-file. (See the Description section
of the function_handle reference
page for information on making a subfunction externally visible.)
Two specific types of primary M-file functions are the private and overloaded
function. Private functions are visible only to a limited
group of other functions. This type of function can be useful if you
want to limit access to a function, or when you choose not to expose
the implementation of a function. Overloaded functions act the same
way as overloaded functions in most computer languages. You can create
multiple implementations of a function so that each responds accordingly
to different types of inputs.
The last type of MATLAB function is the nested
function. Nested functions are not an independent function
type; they exist within the body of one of the other types of functions
discussed here (with the exception of anonymous functions), and also
within other nested functions.
 | Types of Functions | | Anonymous Functions |  |
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