MATLAB Programming Style Guidelines
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Editor's Note: This file was a File Exchange Pick of the Week
Advice on writing MATLAB code usually addresses efficiency concerns, with recommendations such as "Don't use loops." This document is different. Its concerns are correctness, clarity and generality. The goal of these guidelines is to help produce code that is more likely to be correct, understandable, sharable and maintainable.
This document lists MATLAB coding recommendations consistent with best practices in the software development community. These guidelines are generally the same as those for C, C++ and Java, with modifications for MATLAB features and history. The recommendations are based on guidelines for other languages collected from a number of sources and on personal experience.
This file is also available at http://www.datatool.com/prod02.htm
Cite As
Richard Johnson (2020). MATLAB Programming Style Guidelines (https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/2529-matlab-programming-style-guidelines), MATLAB Central File Exchange. Retrieved .
Comments and Ratings (89)
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Acknowledgements
Inspired: MATLAB Coding Checklist, MATLAB Style Guide Wiki access and search function, Matlab Style Guidelines Cheat Sheet, MATLAB Style Guidelines 2.0
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Sambit Mishra (view profile)
Tyler Davis (view profile)
Is there an equivalent document for Simulink? I am finding that programing interface to be even more prone to hard-to-read and impossible-to-maintain code
Tom Hawkins (view profile)
Noam Greenboim (view profile)
Good work!
Richard Johnson (view profile)
I have just submitted an updated and revised version named "MATLAB Style Guidelines 2.0". It is file ID 46056. Thanks for all the helpful feedback.
bersan.riccardo (view profile)
Bryce (view profile)
Nice paper. Is there any chance that an MS Word version could be made available so that I can make small updates that are specific to my organization? But if that violates the copyright then I understand.
Mathijs Faase (view profile)
Excellent work! I agree with the comment that the use of i and j of variables should be avoided altogether (because i and j are used to work with complex numbers) and to start iterators with k. But that's the only fault I find. I've been using a lot of this for years, but there's still some useful new insights here as well.
Hugh (view profile)
Alexander Reinhold (view profile)
Excellent guidelines.
The 14 pages describe practices I've already used for years, but remind me well why to apply them.
In addition, the citations add some fun while reading it.
Thanks a lot!
Alexander Reinhold (view profile)
Chandra Evans (view profile)
Quite! This was a very great publish. Thanks for the supplied info. You can read about Programming Style at http://www.bobyhermez.com/2011/06/programming-style-part-1/
Eric Johnson (view profile)
Richard Johnson (view profile)
I now have a book on this topic.
<a
href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521732581?ie=UTF8&tag=datatoolcom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0521732581">The
Elements of MATLAB Style</a><img
src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=datatoolcom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0521732581"
alt=""
style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;"
border="0" height="1" width="1">
It has been reviewed by Loren Shure in her blog.
<a
href="http://blogs.mathworks.com/loren/2011/02/10/book-review-the-elements-of-matlab-style/">Loren's
review
</a>
Paul (view profile)
I'd like to recommend starting a wikibook on this topic.
M Koelemay (view profile)
Mathijs (view profile)
Braden Hancock (view profile)
This is great to have! I'm glad I finally have some sort of reference on what are standard accepted practices in more than just my own circle of users.
Ryan Ollos (view profile)
Short, simple, straightforward, and surprisingly helpful.
Good food for thought. I like the sense of humor, particularly "% 24 November 1971, D.B. Cooper, exit conditions modified."
I read several gudilines documents, this one was far better than the others.
comment: the use of Capitals in function names is wide spread, and much more clarifying for the meaning.
Several mistakes in that document:
1-The use of underscore is said to be uncommon in other languages, which is a very partial assertion. It is of common use in C, which is quite a common language. This document shows how to write unreadable variable names by not using the underscore.
2- the use of i and j is mentioned for scratch variables. 'i' and 'j' are matlab constants (sqaure root of -1), and redefining 'i' is one of the hardest bug to debug (unless you are well aware of that possibility). The good Matlab programmer should avoid using 'i' (or 'j').
3- Use of uppercase letters in function names is perfectly valid, contrary to what the document suggests. There are cases where X and x have different meanings. Think about colorimetry, where x,y,z are the chromaticity coordinates and X,Y,Z the tristimuli. Matlab offers the freedom of using both uppercase and lowercase, it should be used reasonably (e.g. for an acronym, a name, etc.).
Nice and good document
Good, I will be thankful if u send me any more guidelines materials like complete soft copies..!
it need more n more improvements for modern age.
Nice doc.
Very good.
Well, the author says: "Common scratch variables for integers are i, j, k, m, n and for doubles x, y and z." However, we should avoid using i and j as variable names because they are by default the unit of imagenary numbers. To be more precise, in Matlab, i^2 == j^2 == -1. Using i and j as varaible names may cause errors hard to detect.
Thanks a lot. So much useful reference for
novice then.
Useful by all people who begin to programming.
na ja et jet su
Really helpful. everybody should read something like this before starting any coding ! (Now, it;s my turn to review everything that I did)
After I read this article, I'm impressed some good stuffs that I uesed to ignore or misuderstand. This pdf file is easy understood and it's especially useful for MATLAB experienced programmers. The guidelines helped me to construct a more standardized, easy-maintained programs. No matter what kind of languages you are using, there will be some concepts you can refer to.
Clear, concise and reasonable. Should be alot of help to me (and others). Thanks
Gostei muito me ajuda guando trabalho com matrizes ele é otimo se duvidas...
MARCIO ANDRE /// FLORIANÓPOLIS SC
BRASIL
i am very greatful
File is damaged and I couldn't open it.
Your documemet is not structured enough yet. Try use a standard LaTex. More examples could be helpful and thus self-explanatory. Thanks, btw.
The file is damaged and I cannot open
ok
Concise and thorough
Useful, short document that reminds one of all the things they should already do, but probably don't.
I am greatful to Matlab& I am very happy if give me this documment.
It's great
An excellent collection, great for beginning or intermediate Matlab coders.
Great & Appreciated Guidelines!
I hope I can follow all of them!
very good
good
Very good. But a little too kind. Mandate instead of suggest! Also, i and j should never be used. Code may get expanded to use complex numbers. It is also a bad habit that might allow a slip in the future. You are not doing favors by allowing it sometimes.
Standards are always welcome in structured programming. This is an attempt at standardizing.
no news
Concise, good examples
Generally, most of this should already be known and adhered to by any professional programmer, however it is sometimes useful to have it 'written down' as a reference. Useful as a beginners guide.
No problems viewing file. A good collection of programming tips.
thanks for such facility.
Very instructive this material. However, requires knowing about Matlab programming.
Cannot download PDF. Acrobat 5.0 says there is an error in the file.
Opinionated, but well thought out for issues specific to Matlab :-). I liked it! I wonder if something like this exists for Simulink as well?
Very helpful. I typically write in MATLAB, and I haven't read about style guidelines before. This will help me write more readable and more maintainable MATLAB code.
Most parts are borrowed from other languages. Can't see much useful information.
Good convention for programming large codes
good
I thought this document encapsulated a boat load of good advice relevant for many programming languages, and included some nice MATLAB specific hints.
Detailed comments:
Longer, more descriptive variable, function and file names are good, except when math training takes over. I am never going to refer to A, x and b in the system of linear equations A*x=b by any other names ;-)
My exception to the rule about iterators being in alphabetical order is when using them to access entries in an array (granted, we try to discourage this behavior in the first place, but it's not always feasible). In this case, I generally use i for rows, j for columns and k for pages if it's a 3D array, regardless of the loop order. For more dimensions I would use something like i1,i2,i3, ...
In the section on Conditionals, I would replace "Complex" with "Complicated" to avoid confusion with MATLAB's complex numbers.
Great work. The document is well-written and spot-on. A much-needed addition to the MATLAB community.