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Cheat-Sheet of fundamental MATLAB expressions

Lev on 31 Oct 2024 (Edited on 1 Nov 2024)
Latest activity Edit by Chen Lin on 1 Nov 2024

MATLAB Comprehensive commands list:
  • clc - clears command window, workspace not affected
  • clear - clears all variables from workspace, all variable values are lost
  • diary - records into a file almost everything that appears in command window.
  • exit - exits the MATLAB session
  • who - prints all variables in the workspace
  • whos - prints all variables in current workspace, with additional information.
Ch. 2 - Basics:
  • Mathematical constants: pi, i, j, Inf, Nan, realmin, realmax
  • Precedence rules: (), ^, negation, */, +-, left-to-right
  • and, or, not, xor
  • exp - exponential
  • log - natural logarithm
  • log10 - common logarithm (base 10)
  • sqrt (square root)
  • fprintf("final amount is %f units.", amt);
  • can have: %f, %d, %i, %c, %s
  • %f - fixed-point notation
  • %e - scientific notation with lowercase e
  • disp - outputs to a command window
  • % - fieldWith.precision convChar
  • MyArray = [startValue : IncrementingValue : terminatingValue]
Linspace
linspace(xStart, xStop, numPoints)
% xStart: Starting value
% xStop: Stop value
% numPoints: Number of linear-spaced points, including xStart and xStop
% Outputs a row array with the resulting values
Logspace
logspace(powerStart, powerStop, numPoints)
% powerStart: Starting value 10^powerStart
% powerStop: Stop value 10^powerStop
% numPoints: Number of logarithmic spaced points, including 10^powerStart and 10^powerStop
% Outputs a row array with the resulting values
  • Transpose an array with []'
Element-Wise Operations
rowVecA = [1, 4, 5, 2];
rowVecB = [1, 3, 0, 4];
sumEx = rowVecA + rowVecB % Element-wise addition
diffEx = rowVecA - rowVecB % Element-wise subtraction
dotMul = rowVecA .* rowVecB % Element-wise multiplication
dotDiv = rowVecA ./ rowVecB % Element-wise division
dotPow = rowVecA .^ rowVecB % Element-wise exponentiation
  • isinf(A) - check if the array elements are infinity
  • isnan(A)
Rounding Functions
  • ceil(x) - rounds each element of x to nearest integer >= to element
  • floor(x) - rounds each element of x to nearest integer <= to element
  • fix(x) - rounds each element of x to nearest integer towards 0
  • round(x) - rounds each element of x to nearest integer. if round(x, N), rounds N digits to the right of the decimal point.
  • rem(dividend, divisor) - produces a result that is either 0 or has the same sign as the dividen.
  • mod(dividend, divisor) - produces a result that is either 0 or same result as divisor.
  • Ex: 12/2, 12 is dividend, 2 is divisor
  • sum(inputArray) - sums all entires in array
Complex Number Functions
  • abs(z) - absolute value, is magnitude of complex number (phasor form r*exp(j0)
  • angle(z) - phase angle, corresponds to 0 in r*exp(j0)
  • complex(a,b) - creates complex number z = a + jb
  • conj(z) - given complex conjugate a - jb
  • real(z) - extracts real part from z
  • imag(z) - extracts imaginary part from z
  • unwrap(z) - removes the modulus 2pi from an array of phase angles.
Statistics Functions
  • mean(xAr) - arithmetic mean calculated.
  • std(xAr) - calculated standard deviation
  • median(xAr) - calculated the median of a list of numbers
  • mode(xAr) - calculates the mode, value that appears most often
  • max(xAr)
  • min(xAr)
  • If using &&, this means that if first false, don't bother evaluating second
Random Number Functions
  • rand(numRand, 1) - creates column array
  • rand(1, numRand) - creates row array, both with numRand elements, between 0 and 1
  • randi(maxRandVal, numRan, 1) - creates a column array, with numRand elements, between 1 and maxRandValue.
  • randn(numRand, 1) - creates a column array with normally distributed values.
  • Ex: 10 * rand(1, 3) + 6
  • "10*rand(1, 3)" produces a row array with 3 random numbers between 0 and 10. Adding 6 to each element results in random values between 6 and 16.
  • randi(20, 1, 5)
  • Generates 5 (last argument) random integers between 1 (second argument) and 20 (first argument). The arguments 1 and 5 specify a 1 × 5 row array is returned.
Discrete Integer Mathematics
  • primes(maxVal) - returns prime numbers less than or equal to maxVal
  • isprime(inputNums) - returns a logical array, indicating whether each element is a prime number
  • factor(intVal) - returns the prime factors of a number
  • gcd(aVals, bVals) - largest integer that divides both a and b without a remainder
  • lcm(aVals, bVals) - smallest positive integer that is divisible by both a and b
  • factorial(intVals) - returns the factorial
  • perms(intVals) - returns all the permutations of the elements int he array intVals in a 2D array pMat.
  • randperm(maxVal)
  • nchoosek(n, k)
  • binopdf(x, n, p)
Concatenation
  • cat, vertcat, horzcat
  • Flattening an array, becomes vertical: sampleList = sampleArray ( : )
Dimensional Properties of Arrays
  • nLargest = length(inArray) - number of elements along largest dimension
  • nDim = ndims(inArray)
  • nArrElement = numel(inArray) - nuber of array elements
  • [nRow, nCol] = size(inArray) - returns the number of rows and columns on array. use (inArray, 1) if only row, (inArray, 2) if only column needed
  • aZero = zeros(m, n) - creates an m by n array with all elements 0
  • aOnes = ones(m, n) - creates an m by n array with all elements set to 1
  • aEye = eye(m, n) - creates an m by n array with main diagonal ones
  • aDiag = diag(vector) - returns square array, with diagonal the same, 0s elsewhere.
  • outFlipLR = fliplr(A) - Flips array left to right.
  • outFlipUD = flipud(A) - Flips array upside down.
  • outRot90 = rot90(A) - Rotates array by 90 degrees counter clockwise around element at index (1,1).
  • outTril = tril(A) - Returns the lower triangular part of an array.
  • outTriU = triu(A) - Returns the upper triangular part of an array.
  • arrayOut = repmat(subarrayIn, mRow, nCol), creates a large array by replicating a smaller array, with mRow x nCol tiling of copies of subarrayIn
  • reshapeOut - reshape(arrayIn, numRow, numCol) - returns array with modifid dimensions. Product must equal to arrayIn of numRow and numCol.
  • outLin = find(inputAr) - locates all nonzero elements of inputAr and returns linear indices of these elements in outLin.
  • [sortOut, sortIndices] = sort(inArray) - sorts elements in ascending order, results result in sortOut. specify 'descend' if you want descending order. sortIndices hold the sorted indices of the array elements, which are row indices of the elements of sortOut in the original array
  • [sortOut, sortIndices] = sortrows(inArray, colRef) - sorts array based on values in column colRef while keeping the rows together. Bases on first column by default.
  • isequal(inArray1, inarray2, ..., inArrayN)
  • isequaln(inArray1, inarray2, ..., inarrayn)
  • arrayChar = ischar(inArray) - ischar tests if the input is a character array.
  • arrayLogical = islogical(inArray) - islogical tests for logical array.
  • arrayNumeric = isnumeric(inArray) - isnumeric tests for numeric array.
  • arrayInteger = isinteger(inArray) - isinteger tests whether the input is integer type (Ex: uint8, uint16, ...)
  • arrayFloat = isfloat(inArray) - isfloat tests for floating-point array.
  • arrayReal= isreal(inArray) - isreal tests for real array.
  • objIsa = isa(obj,ClassName) - isa determines whether input obj is an object of specified class ClassName.
  • arrayScalar = isscalar(inArray) - isscalar tests for scalar type.
  • arrayVector = isvector(inArray) - isvector tests for a vector (a 1D row or column array).
  • arrayColumn = iscolumn(inArray) - iscolumn tests for column 1D arrays.
  • arrayMatrix = ismatrix(inArray) - ismatrix returns true for a scalar or array up to 2D, but false for an array of more than 2 dimensions.
  • arrayEmpty = isempty(inArray) - isempty tests whether inArray is empty.
  • primeArray = isprime(inArray) - isprime returns a logical array primeArray, of the same size as inArray. The value at primeArray(index) is true when inArray(index) is a prime number. Otherwise, the values are false.
  • finiteArray = isfinite(inArray) - isfinite returns a logical array finiteArray, of the same size as inArray. The value at finiteArray(index) is true when inArray(index) is finite. Otherwise, the values are false.
  • infiniteArray = isinf(inArray) - isinf returns a logical array infiniteArray, of the same size as inArray. The value at infiniteArray(index) is true when inArray(index) is infinite. Otherwise, the values are false.
  • nanArray = isnan(inArray) - isnan returns a logical array nanArray, of the same size as inArray. The value at nanArray(index) is true when inArray(index) is NaN. Otherwise, the values are false.
  • allNonzero = all(inArray) - all identifies whether all array elements are non-zero (true). Instead of testing elements along the columns, all(inArray, 2) tests along the rows. all(inArray,1) is equivalent to all(inArray).
  • anyNonzero = any(inArray) - any identifies whether any array elements are non-zero (true), and false otherwise. Instead of testing elements along the columns, any(inArray, 2) tests along the rows. any(inArray,1) is equivalent to any(inArray).
  • logicArray = ismember(inArraySet,areElementsMember) - ismember returns a logical array logicArray the same size as inArraySet. The values at logicArray(i) are true where the elements of the first array inArraySet are found in the second array areElementsMember. Otherwise, the values are false. Similar values found by ismember can be extracted with inArraySet(logicArray).
  • any(x) - Returns true if x is nonzero; otherwise, returns false.
  • isnan(x) - Returns true if x is NaN (Not-a-Number); otherwise, returns false.
  • isfinite(x) - Returns true if x is finite; otherwise, returns false. Ex: isfinite(Inf) is false, and isfinite(10) is true.
  • isinf(x) - Returns true if x is +Inf or -Inf; otherwise, returns false.
Relational Operators
a < b - a is less than b
a > b - a is greater than b
a <= b - a is less than or equal to b
a >= b - a is greater than or equal to b
a == b - a is equal to b
a ~= b - a is not equal to b
a & b, and(a, b)
a | b, or(a, b)
~a, not(a)
xor(a, b)
  • fctName = @(arglist) expression - anonymous function
  • nargin - keyword returns the number of input arguments passed to the function.
Looping
while condition
% code
end
for index = startVal:endVal
% code
end
  • continue: Skips the rest of the current loop iteration and begins the next iteration.
  • break: Exits a loop before it has finished all iterations.
switch expression
case value1
% code
case value2
% code
otherwise
% code
end
Comprehensive Overview (may repeat)
Built in functions/constants
abs(x) - absolute value
pi - 3.1415...
inf - ∞
eps - floating point accuracy 1e6 106
sum(x) - sums elements in x
cumsum(x) - Cumulative sum
prod - Product of array elements cumprod(x) cumulative product
diff - Difference of elements round/ceil/fix/floor Standard functions..
*Standard functions: sqrt, log, exp, max, min, Bessel *Factorial(x) is only precise for x < 21
Variable Generation
j:k - row vector
j:i:k - row vector incrementing by i
linspace(a,b,n) - n points linearly spaced and including a and b
NaN(a,b) - axb matrix of NaN values
ones(a,b) - axb matrix with all 1 values
zeros(a,b) - axb matrix with all 0 values
meshgrid(x,y) - 2d grid of x and y vectors
global x
Ch. 11 - Custom Functions
function [ outputArgs ] = MainFunctionName (inputArgs)
% statements go here
end
function [ outputArgs ] = LocalFunctionName (inputArgs)
% statements go here
end
  • You are allowed to have nested functions in MATLAB
Anonymous Function:
  • fctName = @(argList) expression
  • Ex: RaisedCos = @(angle) (cosd(angle))^2;
  • global variables - can be accessed from anywhere in the file
  • Persistent variables
  • persistent variable - only known to function where it was declared, maintains value between calls to function.
  • Recursion - base case, decreasing case, ending case
  • nargin - evaluates to the number of arguments the function was called with
Ch. 12 - Plotting
  • plot(xArray, yArray)
  • refer to help plot for more extensive documentation, chapter 12 only briefly covers plotting
plot - Line plot
yyaxis - Enables plotting with y-axes on both left and right sides
loglog - Line plot with logarithmic x and y axes
semilogy - Line plot with linear x and logarithmic y axes
semilogx - Line plot with logarithmic x and linear y axes
stairs - Stairstep graph
axis - sets the aspect ratio of x and y axes, ticks etc.
grid - adds a grid to the plot
gtext - allows positioning of text with the mouse
text - allows placing text at specified coordinates of the plot
xlabel labels the x-axis
ylabel labels the y-axis
title sets the graph title
figure(n) makes figure number n the current figure
hold on allows multiple plots to be superimposed on the same axes
hold off releases hold on current plot and allows a new graph to be drawn
close(n) closes figure number n
subplot(a, b, c) creates an a x b matrix of plots with c the current figure
orient specifies the orientation of a figure
Animated plot example:
for j = 1:360
pause(0.02)
plot3(x(j),y(j),z(j),'O')
axis([minx maxx miny maxy minz maxz]);
hold on;
end
Ch. 13 - Strings
stringArray = string(inputArray) - converts the input array inputArray to a string array
number = strLength(stringIn) - returns the number of characters in the input string
stringArray = strings(n, m) - returns an n-by-m array of strings with no characters,
  • doing strings(sz) returns an array of strings with no characters, where sz defines the size.
charVec1 = char(stringScalar) char(stringScalar) converts the string scalar stringScalar into a character vector charVec1.
charVec2 = char(numericArray) char(numericArray) converts the numeric array numericArray into a character vector charVec2 corresponding to the Unicode transformation format 16 (UTF-16) code.
stringOut = string1 + string2 - combines the text in both strings
stringOut = join(textSrray) - consecutive elements of array joined, placing a space character between them.
stringOut = blanks(n) - creates a string of n blank characters
stringOut = strcar(string1, string2) - horizontally concatenates strings in arrays.
sprintf(formatSpec, number) - for printing out strings
  • strExp = sprintf("%0.6e", pi)
stringArrayOur = compose(formatSpec, arrayIn) - formats data in arrayIn.
lower(string) - converts to lowercase
upper(string) - converts to uppercase
num2str(inputArray, precision) - returns a character vector with the maximum number of digits specified by precision
mat2str(inputMat, precision), converts matrix into a character vector.
numberOut = sscanf(inputText, format) - convert inputText according to format specifier
str2double(inputText)
str2num(inputChar)
strcmp(string1, string2)
strcmpi(string1, string2) - case-insensitive comparison
strncmp(str1, str2, n) - first n characters
strncmpi(str1, str2, n) - case-insensitive comparison of first n characters.
isstring(string) - logical output
isStringScalar(string) - logical output
ischar(inputVar) - logical output
iscellstr(inputVar) - logical output.
isstrprop(stringIn, categoryString) - returns a logical array of the same size as stringIn, with true at indices where elements of the stringIn belong to specified category:
iskeyword(stringIn) - returns true if string is a keyword in the matlab language
isletter(charVecIn)
isspace(charVecIn)
ischar(charVecIn)
contains(string1, testPattern) - boolean outputs if string contains a specific pattern
startsWith(string1, testPattern) - also logical output
endsWith(string1, testPattern) - also logical output
strfind(stringIn, pattern) - returns INDEX of each occurence in array
number = count(stringIn, patternSeek) - returns the number of occurences of string scalar in the string scalar stringIn.
strip(strArray) - removes all consecutive whitespace characters from begining and end of each string in Array, with side argument 'left', 'right', 'both'.
pad(stringIn) - pad with whitespace characters, can also specify where.
replace(stringIn, oldStr, newStr) - replaces all occurrences of oldStr in string array stringIn with newStr.
replaceBetween(strIn, startStr, endStr, newStr)
strrep(origStr, oldSubsr, newSubstr) - searches original string for substric, and if found, replace with new substric.
insertAfter(stringIn, startStr, newStr) - insert a new string afte the substring specified by startStr.
insertBefore(stringIn, endPos, newStr)
extractAfter(stringIn, startStr)
extractBefore(stringIn, startPos)
split(stringIn, delimiter) - divides string at whitespace characters.
splitlines(stringIn, delimiter)
Chen Lin
Chen Lin on 1 Nov 2024
Thanks for sharing the cheat sheet. This is definitely not 'off topic'. I'll move it to 'Tips & Tricks' channel.
Stephen23
Stephen23 on 1 Nov 2024
A neat start. It is good to see clarity betweeen character arrays and string arrays!
Some tips for improvement:
  • Format the code using the monospaced font.
  • Perhaps the code examples, functions etc. should be formatted as code blocks.
  • Perhaps mention the very useful 2nd output from ISMEMBER.
  • Superfluous square brackets (which are a concatenation operator) should be removed, e.g.: MyArray = startValue:IncrementingValue:terminatingValue.
  • Transpose an array with []' is incorrect (and is a common beginner mistake that a guide like this needs to get right): TRANSPOSE is actually .'
  • "eps - floating point accuracy 1e6 106" you should mention the value you used (EPS is not the same for all values).
  • "strcar(string1, string2)" should be STRCAT.
  • "split(stringIn, delimiter) - divides string at whitespace characters" actually splits at the delimiter characters. Both JOIN and SPLIT should show the default (whitespace) and with optional delimiter.
If the text contained hyperlinks to the relevant documentation then this would be an extremely useful list.