Polygon turning number

Calculate a polygon's turning number.
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Updated 21 Jan 2026

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% Syntax:
% n = polyturn(poly,tol);
% n = polyturn(poly);
%
% Inputs:
%
% poly: 2-column matrix of polygon vertices ([x,y] coordinate pairs),
% size(poly,1)>=3.
%
% tol: scalar, non-negative, proximity tolerance for point equality
% testing, OPTIONAL, default = 0.
%
% Output:
%
% n: integer number of turns or nan. For a non-self-intersecting polygon,
% n is +1 for counterclockwise orientation and -1 for clockwise
% orientation. (n can be zero for a figure-8 polygon.) If any polygon
% segment has an end point within distance tol from an adjacent segment,
% n will be nan.

Cite As

Kenneth Johnson (2026). Polygon turning number (https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/182831-polygon-turning-number), MATLAB Central File Exchange. Retrieved .

MATLAB Release Compatibility
Created with R2025b
Compatible with any release
Platform Compatibility
Windows macOS Linux
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Version Published Release Notes
1.0.2

minor changes in test_polyturn.m

1.0.1

Added File Exchange url to code comments.

1.0.0