INTRODUCTION TO MATLAB FOR

ENGINEERING STUDENTS

David Houcque
Northwestern University
Contents

1 Tutorial lessons 1 8
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2 Basic features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3 A minimum MATLAB session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3.1 Starting MATLAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3.2 Using MATLAB as a calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3.3 Quitting MATLAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.4 Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.4.1 Creating MATLAB variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.4.2 Overwriting variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.4.3 Error messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.4.4 Making corrections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.4.5 Controlling the hierarchy of operations or precedence . . . . . . . . . 13
1.4.6 Controlling the appearance of floating point number . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.4.7 Managing the workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.4.8 Keeping track of your work session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.4.9 Entering multiple statements per line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.4.10 Miscellaneous commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.4.11 Getting help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.5 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2 Tutorial lessons 2 19
2.1 Mathematical functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.1.1 Elementary functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

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 2.1.2 Predefined constant values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.1.3 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.2 Basic plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2.1 Creating simple plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2.2 Multiple data sets in one graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2.3 Specifying line styles and colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.3 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3 Matrix operations 26
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.2 Matrix generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.2.1 Entering a vector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.2.2 Entering a matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.2.3 Indexing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.2.4 Colon operator and Linear spacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.2.5 Creating a sub-matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.2.6 Deleting row or column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.2.7 Dimension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.2.8 Continuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.2.9 Special cases: vectors and scalars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.2.10 Entering vector elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.2.11 Transposing a matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.2.12 Concatenating matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.2.13 Matrix generators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.2.14 Special matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.3 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

4 Array operations and Linear equations 39

4.1 Array operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.1.1 Matrix arithmetic operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.1.2 Array arithmetic operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.1.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

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 4.2 Solving linear equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.2.1 Matrix inverse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.2.2 Matrix functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.3 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

5 Script files 45
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
5.2 M-File Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
5.2.1 Simple script examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
5.3 M-File Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
5.3.1 Basic parts of an M-File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
5.4 Input to a script file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5.5 Output commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
5.5.1 Summary of input and output arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5.5.2 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5.6 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

6 MATLAB programming 53
6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
6.2 Flow control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
6.2.1 The if...end structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
6.2.2 Relational operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
6.2.3 The for...end loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
6.2.4 The while...end loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
6.2.5 Other flow structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
6.3 Saving output to a file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

7 Debugging M-files 59
7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7.2 Debugging process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7.2.1 Preparing for debugging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
7.2.2 Setting breakpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

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 7.2.3 Running with breakpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
7.2.4 Examining values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.2.5 Correcting and ending debugging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.2.6 Ending debugging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.2.7 Correcting an M-file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

A Summary of commands 63

B Release notes for Release 14 with Service Pack 2 68

B.1 Summary of changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
B.2 Other changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
B.3 Further details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

C Main characteristics of MATLAB 72

C.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
C.2 Strengths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
C.3 Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
C.4 Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

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 Preface
“Introduction to MATLAB for Engineering Students” is a document for an introductory
course in MATLAB° R 1
and technical computing. It is used for freshman class at Northwest-
ern University. This document is not a comprehensive introduction or a reference manual.
Instead, it focuses on the specific features of MATLAB that are useful for engineering classes.
The lab classes are used with two main goals in mind: (a) demonstrate concepts seen in class,
(b) allow students to become familiar with computer software (MATLAB) to solve applica-
tion problems.
The availability of technical computing environment such as MATLAB is now reshaping
the role and applications of computer laboratory projects to involve students in more intense
problem-solving experience. This availability also provides an opportunity to easily conduct
numerical experiments and to tackle realistic and more complicated problems.
Originally, the manual is divided into computer laboratory sessions (labs). The lab
document is designed to be used by the student while working at the computer. The emphasis
here is “learning by doing”. This quiz-like session is supposed to be fully completed in 50
minutes in class. We also assume that the students have no prior experience with MATLAB.
The seven lab sessions include not only the basic concepts of MATLAB, but also an in-
troduction to scientific computing, in which they will be useful for the upcoming engineering
courses. In addition, engineering students will see MATLAB in their other courses.
The end of this document contains two useful sections: a Glossary which contains the
brief summary of the commands and built-in functions as well as a collection of release notes.
The release notes, which include several new features of the Release 14 with Service Pack
2, well known as R14SP2, can also be found in Appendix. All of the MATLAB commands
have been thoroughly tested to take advantage with new features of the current version of
MATLAB available here at Northwestern (R14SP2). Although, most of the examples and
exercises still work with previous releases as well.
This manual reflects the ongoing effort of the McCormick School of Engineering and
Applied Science leading by Dean Stephen Carr to institute a significant technical computing
in the EngineeringFirst°R 2
courses taught at Northwestern University.
Finally, the students - Engineering Analysis (EA) Section - deserve my special grati-
tude. They were very active participants in class. It has been gratifying to see the progress
and positive reaction from them.

David Houcque
Evanston, Illinois
May 2005
1
MATLAB° R
is a registered trademark of MathWorks, Inc.
2
EngineeringFirst°R
is a registered trademark of McCormick
School of Engineering and Applied Science (Northwestern University)

5
6
 Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dean Stephen Carr for his constant support. I am grateful to a number
of people who offered helpful advice and comments. I want to thank the EA1 instructors
(Fall Quarter 2004), in particular Randy Freeman, Jorge Nocedal, and Allen Taflove for
their helpful reviews on some specific parts of the document. I also want to thank Malcomb
MacIver, EA3 Honors instructor (Spring 2005) for helping me to better understand the
animation of system dynamics using MATLAB. I am particularly indebted to the many
students (340 or so) who have used these materials, and have communicated their comments
and suggestions. Finally, I want to thank IT personnel for helping setting up the classes and
other computer related work: Joe Morrow, Rebecca Swierz, Jesse Becker, Rick Mazec, Alan
Wolff, Peter Nyberg, Ken Kalan, and Mike Vilches.

About the author

David Houcque has more than 20 years’ experience in the modeling and simulation of struc-
tures and solid continua including 14 years in industry. In industry, he has been working
as R&D engineer in the field of nuclear engineering, oil rig platform offshore, oil reservoir
engineering, and steel industry. All of them include working in different international envi-
ronments: Germany, France, Norway, and United Arab Emirates. Among other things, he
has a combined background experience: scientific computing and engineering expertise. He
earned his academic degrees from Europe and the United States.
Here at Northwestern University, he is working under the supervision of Professor Brian
Moran, a world-renowned expert in fracture mechanics, to investigate the integrity assess-
ment of the aging highway bridges under severe operating conditions and corrosion.

7
Chapter 1

Tutorial lessons 1

1.1 Introduction
The tutorials are independent of the rest of the document. The primarily objective is to help
you learn quickly the first steps. The best way to learn is by trying it yourself. Working
through the examples below will give you a feel for the way that MATLAB operates. In
this introduction we will describe how MATLAB handles simple numerical expressions and
mathematical formulas.

1.2 Basic features

The name MATLAB stands for MATrix LABoratory. MATLAB [1] is a high-performance
language for technical computing. It integrates computation, visualization, and programming
environment. Furthermore, MATLAB is a modern programming language and problem solv-
ing environment: it has sophisticated data structures, contains built-in editing and debugging
tools, and supports object-oriented programming. These factors make MATLAB an excellent
tool for teaching and research.
MATLAB has many advantages compared to conventional computer languages (e.g.,
C, FORTRAN) for solving technical problems. MATLAB is an interactive system whose
basic data element is an array that does not require dimensioning. The software package
has been commercially available since 1984 and is now considered as a standard tool at most
universities and industries worldwide.
It has powerful built-in routines that enable a very wide variety of computations. It
also has easy to use graphics commands that make the visualization of results immediately
available. Specific applications are collected in packages referred to as toolbox. There are
toolboxes for signal processing, symbolic computation, control theory, simulation, optimiza-
tion, and several other fields of applied science and engineering.

8
 In addition to the MATLAB documentation, we would like to recommend the following
books and documents: [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], and [9].
The following tutorial lessons are designed to get you started quickly in MATLAB.
The lessons are intended to make you familiar with the basics of MATLAB. We urge you to
complete the exercises given at the end of each lesson.

1.3 A minimum MATLAB session

The goal of this minimum session is to learn the first steps:

• How to log on
• Invoke MATLAB
• Do a few simple calculations
• How to quit MATLAB

1.3.1 Starting MATLAB

After logging into your account, you can enter MATLAB by double-clicking on the MATLAB
shortcut icon (MATLAB 7.0) on your Windows desktop. When you start MATLAB, a special
window called the MATLAB desktop appears. The desktop is a window that contains other
windows. The major tools within or accessible from the desktop are:

• The Command Window

• The Command History Window
• The Workspace Browser
• The Help Browser
• The Start button

When MATLAB is started for the first time, the screen looks like the one that shown
in the Figure 1.1 below. The following illustration also shows the default configuration of
the MATLAB desktop. You can customize the arrangement of tools and documents to suit
your needs.
Now, we are interested in doing some simple calculations. We will assume that you
have sufficient understanding of your computer under which MATLAB is being run. You
are now faced with a window on your computer, which contains the MATLAB prompt (>>)
in the Command Window. Usually, there are 2 types of prompt:

9
Figure 1.1: The graphical interface to the MATLAB workspace

10
 >> for full version
EDU> for educational version

Note: To simplify the notation, we will use >> as a prompt sign, though our MATLAB
version is for educational purpose.

1.3.2 Using MATLAB as a calculator

As an example of a simple interactive calculation, just type the expression you want to
evaluate. Let’s start at the very beginning. For example, let’s suppose you want to calculate
the expression, 1 + 2 × 3. You type it at the prompt command (>>) as follows,

>> 1+2*3
ans =
7

You will have noticed that if you do not specify an output variable, MATLAB uses a
default variable ans, short for answer, to store the results of the current calculation. Note
that the variable ans is created (or overwritten, if it is already exists). You can also assign
a value to a variable or output argument name. For example,

>> x = 1+2*3
x =
7

will result in x being given the value 1 + 2 × 3 = 7. This name can always be used to
refer to the results of the previous computations. Therefore, computing 4x will result in

>> 4*x
ans =
28.0000

Here is a partial list of arithmetic operators used in MATLAB:

Symbol Operation Example

+ Addition 2+3
− Subtraction 2−3
∗ Multiplication 2∗3
/ Division 2/3

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1.3.3 Quitting MATLAB
To end your MATLAB session, type quit in the Command Window, or select File −→ Exit
MATLAB in the desktop main menu.

1.4 Getting started

After quitting, we are now going to re-enter MATLAB session again using the same opera-
tions as described above. This time we will learn to use some additional operations. After
MATLAB is launched, a prompt >> appears in the command window. Right next to the
prompt is a cursor blinking, indicating that the system is ready to receive commands.

1.4.1 Creating MATLAB variables

MATLAB variables are created with an assignment statement statement. The syntax of
variable assignment is

variable name = a value (or an expression)

For example,

>> x = expression

where expression is a combination of numerical values, mathematical operators, variables,

and function calls. On other words, expression can involve:

• manual entry

• built-in functions

• user-defined functions

1.4.2 Overwriting variable

Once a variable has been created, it can be reassigned.

>> t=5;
>> t=t+1
t =
6

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1.4.3 Error messages
If we enter an expression incorrectly, MATLAB will return an error message. For example,
in the following, we left out the * in the following expression

>> x=10;
>> 5x
??? 5x
|
Error: Unexpected MATLAB expression.

1.4.4 Making corrections

To make corrections, we can, of course retype the expressions. But if the expression is
lengthy, we make more mistakes by typing a second time. A previously typed command
can be recalled with the up-arrow key ↑. When the command is displayed at the command
prompt, it can be modified if needed and executed.

1.4.5 Controlling the hierarchy of operations or precedence

Let’s consider the previous arithmetic operation, but now we will include parentheses. For
example, 1 + 2 × 3 will become (1 + 2) × 3

>> (1+2)*3
ans =
9

By adding parentheses, these two expressions give different results: 7 and 9.

The order in which MATLAB performs arithmetic operations is exactly that taught
in high school algebra courses. Exponentiations are done first, followed by multiplications
and divisions, and finally by additions and subtractions. However, the standard order of
precedence of arithmetic operations can be changed by inserting parentheses. For example,
the result of 1+2×3 is quite different than the similar expression with parentheses (1+2)×3.
The results are 7 and 9 respectively. Parentheses can always be used to overrule priority,
and their use is recommended to avoid ambiguity.
Therefore, to make the evaluation of expressions unambiguous, MATLAB has estab-
lished a series of rules. The order in which the arithmetic operations are evaluated is given
in Table 1.1,
MATLAB arithmetic operators obey the same precedence rules as those in most com-
puter programs. For operators of equal precedence, evaluation is from left to right. Now,

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 Precedence Mathematical operations
First The contents of all parentheses are evaluated first, starting
from the innermost parentheses and working outward.
Second All exponentials are evaluated, working from left to right
Third All multiplications and divisions are evaluated, working
from left to right
Fourth All additions and subtractions are evaluated, starting
from left to right

Table 1.1: Hierarchy of arithmetic operations

consider another example:

1 4 6
2
+ ×
2+3 5 7
In MATLAB,

>> 1/(2+3^2)+4/5*6/7 (2.1)

ans =
0.7766

or, if parentheses are missing,

>> 1/2+3^2+4/5*6/7 (2.2)

ans =
10.1857

Notice that (2.2) give the wrong answer.

1.4.6 Controlling the appearance of floating point number

MATLAB by default displays only 4 decimals in the result of the calculations, for example
−163.6667, as shown in above examples. However, MATLAB does numerical calculations
in double precision, which is 15 digits. The command format controls how the results of
computations are displayed. Here are some examples of the different formats together with
the resulting outputs.

>> format short

>> x=-163.6667

If we want to see all 15 digits, we use the command format long

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 >> format long
>> x= -1.636666666666667e+002

To return to the standard format, enter format short, or simply format.

There are several other formats. For more details, see the MATLAB documentation,
or type help format.
It is important to realize that although MATLAB only displays four significant digits
in the default format (short), it is computing the answer to an accuracy of sixteen significant
digits.
Note - Up to now, we have let MATLAB repeat everything that we enter at the
prompt (>>). Sometimes this is not quite useful, in particular when the output is pages en
length. To prevent MATLAB from echoing what we type, simply enter a semicolon (;) at
the end of the command. For example,

>> x=-163.6667;

and then ask about the value of x by typing,

>> x
x =
-163.6667

Note that MATLAB commands can be placed on a single line separated by semi-colons (;)
or commas (,).

1.4.7 Managing the workspace

The contents of the workspace persist between the executions of separate commands. There-
fore, it is possible for the results of one problem to have an effect on the next one. To avoid
this possibility, it is a good idea to issue a clear command at the start of each new inde-
pendent calculation.

>> clear

The command clear or clear all removes all variables from the workspace. This
frees up system memory. In order to display a list of the variables currently in the memory,
type

>> who

while, whos will give more details which include size, space allocation, and class of the
variables.

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1.4.8 Keeping track of your work session
Finally, it is possible to keep track of everything done during a MATLAB session with the
diary command.

>> diary filename

The function diary is useful if you want to save a complete MATLAB session. They
save all input and output as they appear in the MATLAB window. When you want to stop
the recording, enter diary off. If you want to start recording again, enter diary on. The
file that is created is a simple text file. It can be opened by an editor or a word processing
program and edited to remove extraneous material, or to add your comments. You can
use the function type to view the diary file or you can edit in a text editor or print. This
command is useful, for example in the process of preparing a homework or lab submission.

1.4.9 Entering multiple statements per line

It is possible to enter multiple statements per line. Use commas (,) or semicolons (;) to enter
more than one statement at once. Commas (,) allow multiple statements per line without
suppressing output.

>> a=7; b=cos(a), c=cosh(a)

b =
0.6570
c =
548.3170

1.4.10 Miscellaneous commands

Here are few additional useful commands:

• To clear the Command Window, type clc

• To abort a MATLAB computation, type ctrl-c

• To continue a line, type . . .

1.4.11 Getting help

To view the online documentation, select MATLAB Help from Help menu or MATLAB Help
in the Command Window. The preferred method is to use the Help Browser. The Help
Browser can be started by selecting the ? icon from the desktop toolbar. On the other hand,

16
information about any command is available by typing To view the online documentation,
select MATLAB Help from Help menu or MATLAB Help in the Command Window. The
preferred method is to use the Help Browser. The Help Browser can be started by selecting
the ? icon from the desktop toolbar. On the other hand, information about any command
is available by typing

>> help command

Another way to get help is to use the lookfor command. The lookfor command
differs from the help command. The help command searches for an exact function name
match, while the lookfor command searches the quick summary information in each function
for a match. For example, suppose that we were looking for a function to take the inverse
of a matrix. Since MATLAB does not have a function named inverse, the command help
inverse will produce nothing. On the other hand, the command lookfor inverse will produce
detailed information, which includes the function of interest, inv.

>> lookfor inverse

Note - Because MATLAB is a huge program; it is impossible to cover all the details of each
function one by one. However, we will give you information how to get help. Here are some
examples:

• Use on-line help to request info on a specific function

>> help sqrt

• In MATLAB version 6 and the current version (MATLAB version 7), the doc function
opens the on-line version of the help manual. This is very helpful for more complex
commands.

>> doc plot

• Use lookfor to find functions by keywords. The general form is

>> lookfor functionName

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1.5 Exercises
1. Use the standard procedure on your computer to create a folder named mywork (or
your own name) In MATLAB change to this folder either by using the command cd
at the prompt or by clicking the ellipsis (. . . ) button next to the Current Directory
edit box on your MATLAB toolbar and browsing to the folder mywork. Look at the
Current Directory edit box to make sure that mywork is the current directory. You
can also use the command pwd at the prompt. Clear the window with the command
clc, then clear the workspace of all variables with the command clear. Start a diary
session with diary lab1. Continue to do the subsequent exercises (e.g., 2, 3, 4, etc.)
When you are finished to solve these problems, enter the command diary off. Open
the file lab1 with your favorite editor - or open it in MATLAB’s editor by typing edit
lab1 at the prompt. Edit and correct any mistakes that you made. Save and print the
edited file and submit the result to your instructor.

2. Variables a, b, c, and d have been initialized to the following values a = 3, b = 2, c = 5,

d = 3. Evaluate and compare the following MATLAB assignment statements:

(a) output = a(b + c)d

(b) output = (ab) + (cd)
(c) output = (ab )d
d)
(d) output = a(b

3. Suppose that x = 3 and y = 4. Evaluate the expression:

x2 y 3
(x − y)2

4. Compute the following quantities:

√
25 5−1
; 3 √ −1
25 − 1 ( 5 − 1)2

18
Chapter 2

Tutorial lessons 2

2.1 Mathematical functions

MATLAB contains a large set of mathematical functions. Typing help elfun and help specfun
calls up full lists of elementary and special functions respectively.
There is a long list of mathematical functions that are built into MATLAB. These
functions are called built-ins. Examples of very common functions are the trigonometric
functions, logarithms, and square roots. Therefore, many standard mathematical functions,
such as sin(x), cos(x), tan(x), ex , ln(x), are evaluated by the functions sin, cos, tan,
exp, log, sqrt(x) in MATLAB.
Examples of other sophisticated functions include the hyperbolic functions, Bessel func-
tions, and so forth. MATLAB has a variety of built-in functions ready for use. A few of the
most common and useful MATLAB functions are shown in Tables 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.6, and 2.5.

2.1.1 Elementary functions

Included are most of the functions that are standard in Calculus courses.
√
sqrt(x) The square root of x, i.e. x
abs(x) The absolute of x, i.e. |x|
sign(x) The signum of x, i.e. 0 if x = 0

Table 2.1: Elementary functions

19
 cos(x) The cosine of x, i.e. cos(x)
sin(x) The sine of x, i.e. sin(x)
tan(x) The tangent of x, i.e. tan(x)
cot(x) The cotangent of x, i.e. cot(x)
sec(x) The secant of x, i.e. sec(x)
csc(x) The cosecant of x, i.e. csc(x)

Table 2.2: The trigonometric functions

acos(x) The inverse of cosine of x, i.e. arccos(x)

asin(x) The sine of x, i.e. arcsin(x)
atan(x) The tangent of x, i.e. arctan(x)

Table 2.3: The inverse trigonometric functions

log(x) The natural logarithm of x, i.e. ln(x)

log10(x) The logarithm of x to base 10, i.e. log10 (x)
exp(x) The exponential of x, i.e. ex

Table 2.4: The logarithm and exponential functions

cosh(x) The hyperbolic cosine of x, i.e. cosh(x)

sinh(x) The hyperbolic sine of x, i.e. sinh(x)
tanh(x) The hyperbolic tangent of x, i.e. tanh(x)
coth(x) The hyperbolic cotangent of x, i.e. coth(x)
sech(x) The hyperbolic secant of x, i.e. sech(x)
csch(x) The hyperbolic cosecant of x, i.e. csch(x)

Table 2.5: The hyperbolic functions

20
2.1.2 Predefined constant values
In addition to the elementary functions, MATLAB includes a number of predefined values.
A list of the most common predefined constant values is given in ??

pi The π number, i.e. π = 3.14159

√ ...
i,j The imaginary unit i, i.e. −1
Inf The infinity, i.e. ∞
NaN Not a number

Table 2.6: Predefined constant values

2.1.3 Examples
We illustrate here some examples which related to the elementary functions previously de-
fined.

>> log(142)
ans =
4.9558

>> log10(142)
ans =
2.1523

For instance, to calculate sin(π/4) and e10 expressions, we enter the following com-
mands in MATLAB,

>> sin(pi/4)
ans =
0.7071

>> exp(10)
ans =
2.2026e+004

Notes:

• Only use built-in functions on the right hand side of an expression. Reassigning the
value of a built-in function can create problems.
√
• There are some exceptions. For example, i and j are pre-assigned to −1. However,
one or both of i or j are often used as loop indices. To avoid any possible confusion,
it is suggested to use instead ii or jj as loop indices.

21
2.2 Basic plotting
MATLAB has an excellent set of graphic tools. In this section, we will present only some of
the most elementary ones. We begin with two-dimensional (2D) graphs. The basic MATLAB
graphing procedure in 2D is to take a vector of x-coordinates, x = (x1 , . . . , xN ), and a vector
of y-coordinates, y = (y1 , . . . , yN ), locate the points (xj , yj ), and then join them by straight
lines. The MATLAB command is plot(x,y).

2.2.1 Creating simple plots

The vectors x = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) and y = (3, −1, 2, 4, 5, 1) produce the picture shown in Figure
2.1.

>> x = [1 2 3 4 5 6];
>> y = [3 -1 2 4 5 1];
>> plot(x,y)

−1
1 2 3 4 5 6

Figure 2.1: Plot for the vectors x and y

The plot functions has different forms depending on the input arguments. If y is a
vector plot(y)produces a piecewise linear graph of the elements of y versus the index of the
elements of y. If we specify two vectors, as mentioned above, plot(x,y) produces a graph
of y versus x.

22
For example, to plot the function sin (x) on the interval [0, 2π], we first create a vector of
x values ranging from 0 to 2π, then compute the sine of these values, and finally plot the
result:

>> x = 0:pi/100:2*pi;
>> y = sin(x);
>> plot(x,y)

Notes:

• 0:pi/100:2*pi yields a vector that

– starts at 0,
– takes steps (or increments) of π/100,
– stops when 2π is reached.
• If you omit the increment, MATLAB automatically increments by 1.

Now label the axes and add a title. The character \pi creates the symbol π.

>> xlabel(’x = 0:2\pi’)

>> ylabel(’Sine of x’)
>> title(’Plot of the Sine function’)

The color of a single curve is, by default, blue, but other colors are possible. The desired
color is indicated by a third argument. For example, red is selected by plot(x,y,’r’). Note
the single quotes around r.

2.2.2 Multiple data sets in one graph

Multiple (x, y) pairs arguments create multiple graphs with a single call to plot. For example,
these statements plot three related functions of x: y1 = sin(x), y2 = sin(x − 0.25), and
y3 = sin(x − 0.50), in the interval 0 ≤ x ≤ 2π.

>> x = 0:pi/100:2*pi;
>> y1 = sin(x);
>> y2 = sin(x-0.25);
>> y3 = sin(x-0.50);
>> plot(x,y1,x,y2,x,y3)
>> legend(’sin(x)’,’sin(x-0.25)’,’sin(x-0.50)’)
>> xlabel(’x’)
>> ylabel(’Sine functions’)

The result is shown in Figure 2.3

23
 Plot of the Sine function
1

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2
Sine of x

−0.2

−0.4

−0.6

−0.8

−1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
0:2π

Figure 2.2: Example of 2D function plot

1
sin(x)
0.8 sin(x−0.25)
sin(x−0.50)
0.6

0.4
Sine functions

0.2

−0.2

−0.4

−0.6

−0.8

−1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
x

Figure 2.3: Example of multiple plots in one graph

24
2.2.3 Specifying line styles and colors
It is possible to specify line styles, colors, and markers (e.g., circles, plus signs) using the
plot command:

plot(x,y,’style_color_marker’)

style_color_marker is a string containing from one to four characters constructed from a

line style, a color, and a marker type:

• Lines: “-” for solid, “–” for dashed, “:” for dotted, “-.” for dashed dot.

• Colors: c, m, y, r, g, b, w, and k correspond to cyan, magenta, yellow, red, green, blue,

white, and black.

• Markers: +, ◦, ∗, and ×.

2.3 Exercises
1. Evaluate the fractions
22 311 355
, , and
7 99 113
and determine which is the best approximation to π.

2. Evaluate to 15 digits:

sin(0.1) sin(0.01) sin(0.0001)

(a) , (b) , (c)
0.1 0.01 0.0001

3. Graph the following:

(a) y = x2 + x − 1, for − 5 ≤ x ≤ 5
(b) y = tan x, for − π/2 ≤ x ≤ π/2

4. Plot the functions x4 and 2x on the same graph. Determine how many times their
graphs intersect. (Hint: You will probably have to make several plots, using various
intervals, in order to find all the intersection points).

25
Chapter 3

Matrix operations

3.1 Introduction
Matrices are the basic elements of the MATLAB environment. A matrix is a two-dimensional
array consisting of m rows and n columns. Special cases are column vectors (n = 1) and row
vectors (m = 1).
In this section we will illustrate how to apply different operations on matrices. MAT-
LAB supports two types of operations, known as matrix operations and array operations.
In this section, the following topics are discussed: vectors and matrices in MATLAB, the
inverse of a matrix, determinants, and matrix manipulation.

3.2 Matrix generation

Matrices are fundamental to MATLAB. Therefore, you need to become familiar with matrix
generation and manipulation. Matrices can be generated in several ways. A vector is a
special case of a matrix.

3.2.1 Entering a vector

The purpose of this section is to show how to create vectors and matrices in MATLAB.
This command creates a row vector

>> a = [1 2 3]
a =
1 2 3

26
Column vectors are created in a similar way, however, semicolon (;) must separate the
components of a column vector

>> b = [1;2;3]
b =
1
2
3

3.2.2 Entering a matrix

A matrix is an array of numbers. To type a matrix into MATLAB you must

• begin with a square bracket, [

• separate elements in a row with spaces or commas (,)
• use a semicolon (;) to separate rows
• end the matrix with another square bracket, ].

Here is a typical example. To enter a matrix A, such as,

 
1 2 3
A= 4 5 6  (3.1)
7 8 9
we will enter each element of the matrix A as follow,

>> A = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9]

MATLAB then displays the matrix we just entered as

A =
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

Once we have entered the matrix, it is automatically stored and remembered in the workspace.
We can refer to it simply as matrix A. We can then view a particular element in a matrix by
specifying its location:

>> A(2,1)
ans =
4

A(2,1) is an element located in the second row and first column. Its value is 4.

27
3.2.3 Indexing
Once a matrix exists, it elements are accessed by specifying row and column indices. The
element of row i and column j of the matrix A is denoted by A(i,j). Thus, A(i,j) in
MATLAB refers to the element Aij of matrix A. The first index is the row number and the
second index is the column number. For example, A(1,3) is an element of first row and
third column. Here, A(1,3)=3.
Correcting any entry is easy through indexing. Here we substitute A(3,3)=9 by A(3,3)=0.
The result is

>> A(3,3) = 0
A =
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 0

Single elements of a matrix are accessed as A(i,j), where i ≥ 1 and j ≥ 1 (zero or negative
subscripts are not supported in MATLAB).

3.2.4 Colon operator and Linear spacing

Often we must deal with matrices or vectors that are too large to enter one element at a time.
For example, suppose we want to enter a vector x consisting of points (0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, · · · , 5).
we can use the command

>> x = 0:0.1:5;

This row vector has 51 elements. The colon operator can also be used to pick out a certain
row or column. For example, the statement A(m:n,k:l specifies rows m to n and column k
to l. The colon operator will prove very useful and understanding how it works is the key to
efficient and convenient usage of MATLAB. It occurs in several different forms. Subscript
expressions refer to portions of a matrix. For example,

>> A(2,:)
ans =
4 5 6

is the second row elements of A.

The colon operator can also be used to extract a sub-matrix from A.

>> A(:,2:3)

28
 ans =
2 3
5 6
8 0

A(:,2:3) is a sub-matrix with the last two columns of A.

A row or a column of a matrix can be deleted by setting it to a null vector, [ ].

>> A(:,2)=[]
ans =
1 3
4 6
7 0

On the other hand, there is a command to generate linearly spaced vectors: linspace.
It is similar to the colon operator (:), but gives direct control over the number of points.
For example,

y = linspace(a,b)

generates a row vector y of 100 points linearly spaced between and including a and b.

y = linspace(a,b,n)

generates a row vector y of n points linearly spaced between and including a and b. This is
useful when we want to divide an interval into a number of subintervals of the same length.
For example,

>> theta = linspace(0,2*pi,101)

divides the interval [0, 2π] into 100 equal subintervals, then creating a vector of 101 elements.

3.2.5 Creating a sub-matrix

To extract a submatrix B consisting of rows 2 and 3 and columns 1 and 2 of the matrix A,
do the following

>> B = A([2 3],[1 2])

B =
4 5
7 8

29
To interchange rows 1 and 2 of A, use the vector of row indices together with the colon
operator.

>> C = A([2 1 3],:)

C =
4 5 6
1 2 3
7 8 0

It is important to note that the colon operator (:) stands for all columns or all rows. To
create a vector version of matrix A, do the following

>> A(:)
ans =
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0

The submatrix comprising the intersection of rows p to q and columns r to s is denoted by

A(p:q,r:s).
As a special case, a colon (:) as the row or column specifier covers all entries in that row or
column; thus

• A(:,j) is the jth column of A, while

• A(i,:) is the ith row, and

• A(end,:) picks out the last row of A.

The keyword end, used in A(end,:), denotes the last index in the specified dimension. Here
are some examples.

>> A
A =
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

30
 >> A(2:3,2:3)
ans =
5 6
8 9

>> A(end:-1:1,end)
ans =
9
6
3

>> A([1 3],[2 3])

ans =
2 3
8 9

3.2.6 Deleting row or column

To delete a row or column of a matrix, use the empty vector operator, [ ]. For the (full)
matrix A from the previous example

>> A(3,:) = []
A =
1 2 3
4 5 6

Third row of matrix A is now deleted. To restore the third row, we use a technique for
creating a matrix

>> A = [A(1,:);A(2,:);[7 8 0]]

A =
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 0

Matrix A is now restored to its original form.

3.2.7 Dimension
To determine the dimensions of a matrix or vector, use the command size, as follows:

31
 >> size(A)
ans =
3 3

means 3 rows and 3 columns.

Or more explicitly with,

>> [m,n]=size(A)

3.2.8 Continuation
If it is not possible to type the entire input on the same line, use consecutive periods, called
an ellipsis · · · , to signal continuation, then continue the input on the next line.

B = [4/5 7.23*tan(x) sqrt(6); ...

1/x^2 0 3/(x*log(x)); ...
x-7 sqrt(3) x*sin(x)];

Note that blank spaces around +, −, = signs are optional, but they improve readability.

3.2.9 Special cases: vectors and scalars

1. A vector is a special case of a matrix with just one row or one column. It is entered
the same way as matrix. Examples:

(a) u = [3 4 5] produces a row vector.

(b) v = [3;4;5] produces a column vector.
(c) w = [] produces a null vector.

2. A scalar does not need brackets.

• g = 9.81

3.2.10 Entering vector elements

For manual entry, the elements in a vector are enclosed in square brackets ([ ]). When
creating a row vector, separate elements with a space or a comma. For example, a vector v
could be h √ i
v = 8 2 9 π 7.1

32
or,  
 √3 
 π 
w=
 −2.4 

 −7 
1

We say that v is a row vector and that w is a column vector. In MATLAB, these will be

>> v = [8 2 sqrt(9) pi 7.1]

v =
8.0000 2.0000 3.0000 3.1416 7.1000

and,

>> w = [3 sqrt(pi) -2.4 -7 1]’

w =
3.0000
1.7725
-2.4000
-7.0000
1.0000

The dimension of a matrix are the number of rows and the number of columns, with
the number of rows usually given first. The above matrix A is 3 × 3 matrix. The vector v is
1 × 5 matrix, and the column vector w is 5 × 1 matrix. A single number, such as 1.7725, is
a scalar and can be considered as a 1 × 1 matrix.

3.2.11 Transposing a matrix

The transpose operation is denoted by an apostrophe or a single quote (’). It flips a matrix
about its main diagonal and it turns a row vector into a column vector. Thus,

>> A’
ans =
1 4 7
2 5 8
3 6 0

By using linear algebra notation, the transpose of m × n real matrix A is the n × m matrix
that results from interchanging the rows and columns of A. The transpose matrix is denoted
AT .

33
3.2.12 Concatenating matrices
Matrices can be made up of sub-matrices. Here is a typical example. First, let’s recall our
previous matrix A.

A =
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

The new matrix B will be,

>> B = [A 10*A; -A [1 0 0; 0 1 0; 0 0 1]]

B =
1 2 3 10 20 30
4 5 6 40 50 60
7 8 9 70 80 90
-1 -2 -3 1 0 0
-4 -5 -6 0 1 0
-7 -8 -9 0 0 1

3.2.13 Matrix generators

MATLAB provides functions that generates elementary matrices. The matrix of zeros, the
matrix of ones, and the identity matrix are returned by the functions zeros, ones, and eye,
respectively.

Matrix Description

eye(m,n) Returns an m-by-n matrix with 1 on the main diagonal

eye(n) Returns an n-by-n square identity matrix
zeros(m,n) Returns an m-by-n matrix of zeros
ones(m,n) Returns an m-by-n matrix of ones
diag(A) Extracts the diagonal of matrix A
rand(m,n) Returns an m-by-n matrix of random numbers

Table 3.1: Elementary matrices

For a complete list of elementary matrices and matrix manipulations, type help elmat.
Here are some examples:

1. >> b=ones(3,1)

34
 length Length of a vector
size Size of an array
disp Display matrix or text
ndims Number of dimensions
numel Number of elements
isempty True for empty array
isequal True if arrays are numerically equal

Table 3.2: Basic array information

cat Concatenate arrays

reshape Change size
diag Diagonal matrices and diagonals of matrix
find Find indices of nonzero elements
end Last index
: Regularly spaced vector and index into matrix

Table 3.3: Matrix manipulation

b =
1
1
1

Equivalently, we can define b as >> b=[1;1;1]

2. >> eye(3)
ans =
1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 1

3. >> c=zeros(2,3)
c =
0 0 0
0 0 0

In addition, it is important to remember that the three elementary operations of ad-

dition (+), subtraction (−), and multiplication (∗) apply also to matrices whenever the
dimensions are compatible.

35
 Two other important matrix generation functions are rand and randn, which generate
matrices of (pseudo-)random numbers using the same syntax as eye.
In addition, matrices can be constructed in block form. With C defined by C = [1 2;
3 4], we may create a matrix D as follows

>> D = [C zeros(2); ones(2) eye(2)]

D =
1 2 0 0
3 4 0 0
1 1 1 0
1 1 0 1

3.2.14 Special matrices

MATLAB provides a number of special matrices (see Table 3.4. These matrices have inter-
esting properties that make them useful for constructing examples and for testing algorithms.
For more information, see MATLAB documentation.

hilb Hilbert matrix

invhilb Inverse Hilbert matrix
magic Magic square
pascal Pascal matrix
toeplitz Toeplitz matrix
vander Vandermonde matrix
wilkinson Wilkinson’s eigenvalue test matrix

Table 3.4: Special matrices

3.3 Exercises
1. Enter the following three matrices:
· ¸ · ¸ · ¸
2 6 1 2 −5 5
A= , B= , C=
3 9 3 4 5 3

Check the following linear algebra rules:

(a) Is matrix addition commutative? Compute A+B and B+A.
(b) Is matrix addition associative? Compute (A+B)+C and A+(B+C).
(c) Is multiplication with a scalar distributive? Compute α(A + B) and αA + αB
Take α = 5 and show that the results are the same.

36
 (d) Is multiplication with a matrix distributive? Compute A ∗ (B + C) and compare
with A ∗ B + A ∗ C.
2. Determine the size and contents of the following arrays:
(a) a=1:2:5
(b) b = [a0 , a0 , a0 ]
(c) c = b(1 : 2 : 3, 1 : 2 : 3)
(d) d = a + b(2, :)
(e) e = [zeros(1, 3), ones(3, 1)0 , 3 : 50 ]
3. Create the following matrices with the help of the matrix generation functions zeros,
eye, and ones.
 
· ¸ 5 0 0 · ¸
0 0 0 3 3
D= , E =  0 5 0 , F =
0 0 0 3 3
0 0 5

4. Create a big matrix with sub-matrices (concatenating matrices). Putting matrices A,

B, and C given above on its diagonal to create the following matrix G, as follows,
 
2 6 0 0 0 0
 3 9 0 0 0 0 
 
 0 0 1 2 0 0 
G=  
0 0 3 4 0 0 
 
 0 0 0 0 −5 5 
0 0 0 0 5 3

5. Construct a matrix M using the function diag, as well as colon (:) and transpose (0 )
operators.  
1 2 . . . 10
 2 2 ... 0 
 
M =  .. .. . . .. 
 . . . . 
10 0 . . . 10
. .
where the ellipsis . . ., .., and . . indicate the series of numbers; i.e., 1 2 . . . 10 is equiv-
alent to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10.
6. Construct a matrix T using the functions diag and ones.
 
2 −1 0 0 0 0
 −1 2 −1 0 0 0 
 
 0 −1 2 −1 0 0 
T=  0


 0 −1 2 −1 0 
 0 0 0 −1 2 −1 
0 0 0 0 −1 2

37
7. The matrix is the n − by − n upper triangular matrix A with elements

 −1, if i < j
aij = 1, if i = j

0, if i > j

Show how to generate this matrix in MATLAB.

38
Chapter 4

Array operations and Linear

equations

MATLAB has two different types of arithmetic operations: matrix arithmetic operations
and array arithmetic operations.

4.1 Array operations

MATLAB has two different types of arithmetic operations: matrix arithmetic operations
and array arithmetic operations.

4.1.1 Matrix arithmetic operations

As we mentioned earlier, MATLAB allows arithmetic operations: +, −, ∗, and ˆ to be
carried out on matrices. Thus,

A+B or B+A is valid if A and B are of the same size

A*B is valid if A’s number of column equals B’s number of rows
Aˆ2 is valid if A is square and equals A*A
α*A or A*α multiplies each element of A by α

4.1.2 Array arithmetic operations

On the other hand, array arithmetic operations or array operations for short are done
element-by-element. The period character (.) distinguishes the array operations from the
matrix operations. However, since the matrix and array operations are the same for addition

39
(+) and subtraction (-), the character pairs (.+) and (.-) are not used. The list of array
operators is shown below in Table 4.2.

Operators Description

.* Element-by-element multiplication
./ Element-by-element division
.^ Element-by-element exponentiation

Table 4.1: Array operators

If A and B are two matrices of the same size with elements A = [aij ] and B = [bij ],
then the command

>> C = A.*B

produces another matrix C of the same size with elements cij = aij bij . For example, using
the same 3 × 3 matrices,
   
1 2 3 10 20 30

A= 4 5 6 ,  
B = 40 50 60 
7 8 9 70 80 90

we have

>> C = A.*B
C =
10 40 90
160 250 360
490 640 810

To raise a scalar to a power, we use for example the command 10^2. If we want the
operation to be applied to each element of a matrix, we use .^2. For example, if we want
to produce a new matrix whose elements are the square of the elements of the matrix A, we
enter

>> A.^2
ans =
1 4 9
16 25 36
49 64 81

The relations below summarize the above operations. To simplify, let’s consider two vectors
U and V with elements U = [ui ] and V = [vj ].

40
 U. ∗ V produces [u1 v1 u2 v2 . . . un vn ]
U./V produces [u1 /v1 u2 /v2 . . . un /vn ]
U.ˆV produces [uv11 uv22 . . . uvnn ]

4.1.3 Summary
In order to avoid any confusion on this topic of “Matrix and Array Operations”, the above
description can be summarized in Table 4.2.

Operation Matrix Array

Addition + +
Subtraction − −
Multiplication ∗ .∗
Division / ./
Left division \ .\
Exponentiation ˆ .ˆ

Table 4.2: Summary of matrix and array operations

4.2 Solving linear equations

One of the problems encountered most frequently in scientific computation is the solution of
systems of simultaneous linear equations.
With matrix notation, a system of simultaneous linear equations is written

Ax = b (4.1)

when there are as many equations as unknown, A is a given square matrix of order n, b is a
given column vector of n components, and x is an unknown column vector of n components.
Students of linear algebra learn that the solution to Ax = b can be written as x = A−1 b,
where A−1 is the inverse of A−1 is the inverse of A. However, in the vast majority of practical
computational problems, it is unnecessary and inadvisable to actually compute A−1 . The
inverse requires more arithmetic and produces a less accurate answer.
For example, consider the following system of linear equations

 x + 2y + 3z = 1
4x + 5y + 6z = 1

7x + 8y = 1

41
 The coefficient matrix A is
  
1 2 3 1
A= 4 5 6  and the vector b =  1 
7 8 9 1
With matrix notation, a system of simultaneous linear equations is written

Ax = b (4.2)

This equation can be solved for x using linear algebra. The result is x = A−1 b.
There are typically two ways to solve for x in MATLAB:

1. The first one is to use the matrix inverse, inv.

>> A = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 0];
>> b = [1; 1; 1];
>> x = inv(A)*b
x =
-1.0000
1.0000
-0.0000

2. The second one is to use the backslash (\)operator. The numerical algorithm behind
this operator is computationally efficient. This is a numerically reliable way of solving
system of linear equations by using a well-known process of Gaussian elimination.

>> A = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 0];
>> b = [1; 1; 1];
>> x = A\b
x =
-1.0000
1.0000
-0.0000

This problem is at the heart of many problems in scientific computation. Hence it is impor-
tant that we know how to solve this type of problem efficiently.
Now, we know how to solve a system of linear equations. In addition to this, we will
see also some additional details which relate to this particular topic.

42
4.2.1 Matrix inverse
Let’s consider the same matrix A.
 
1 2 3
A= 4 5 6 
7 8 0

Calculating the inverse of A manually is probably not a pleasant work. Here the hand-
calculation of A−1 gives as a final result:
 
−16 8 −1
1
A−1 =  14 −7 2 
9
−1 2 −1
In MATLAB, however, it becomes as simple as the following commands:

>> A = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 0];
>> inv(A)
ans =
-1.7778 0.8889 -0.1111
1.5556 -0.7778 0.2222
-0.1111 0.2222 -0.1111

which is similar to:  

−16 8 −1
1
A−1 =  14 −7 2 
9
−1 2 −1
and the determinant of A is

>> det(A)
ans =
27

For further details on applied numerical linear algebra, see [10] and [11].

4.2.2 Matrix functions

MATLAB provides many matrix functions for various matrix/vector manipulations; see
Table ?? for some of these functions. Use the online help of MATLAB to find how to use
these functions.

43
 det Determinant
diag Diagonal matrices and diagonals of a matrix
eig Eigenvalues and eigenvectors
inv Matrix inverse
norm Matrix and vector norms
rank Number of linearly independent rows or columns

Table 4.3: Matrix functions

4.3 Exercises
1. Assume that a, b, c, and d are defined as follows:
· ¸ · ¸ · ¸
2 −2 1 −1 1
a= , b= , c= , d = eye(2)
−1 2 0 2 −2

Calculate the results of the following operations and then compare them between ma-
trix and array operations.

(a) result1 = a ∗ d, result2 = a. ∗ d

(b) result3 = a ∗ c, result4 = a. ∗ c
(c) result5 = a\b, result6 = a.\b

2. Consider the system of equations:


 x + 2y + 3z = 1
3x + 3y + 4z = 1

2x + 3y + 3z = 2

(a) On paper, find the solution x to the system of equations

(b) Check your hand-calculation with MATLAB.

3. Suppose that, in MATLAB, you have an n − by − n matrix A and an n − by − 1

matrix b. What do A\b, b0 /A, and A/b mean in MATLAB. How does A\b differ
from inv(A) ∗ b?

44
Chapter 5

Script files

5.1 Introduction
This section covers the following topics:

• M-File Scripts

• M-File Functions

So far in this manual, all the commands were executed in the Command Window. The
problem is that the commands in the Command Window cannot be saved and executed
again. Therefore, a different way of executing commands with MATLAB is

• first, to create a file with a list of commands,

• then, save it, and

• finally, run the file.

If needed, corrections or changes can be made to the commands in the file. The files that
are used for this purpose are called script files.

5.2 M-File Scripts

A script file is an external file that contains a sequence of MATLAB statements. By typing
the filename, you can obtain subsequent MATLAB input from the file. Script files have a
filename extension .m and are often called M-files.
Script files (or script for short) is the simplest type of M-file, because they have no input
or output arguments. They are useful for automating series of MATLAB commands, such

45
as computations that you have to perform repeatedly from the command line (or Command
Window).

5.2.1 Simple script examples

When we write a program in MATLAB, we save it to a file called an M-file (named after its
.m extension). Here are two simple script examples.

Example 1

Consider the system of equations:


 x + 2y + 3z = 1
3x + 3y + 4z = 1

2x + 3y + 3z = 2

Find the solution x to the system of equations.

Solution:

• Use an editor to create a file: File → New → M-file.

• Enter the following statements in the file:

A = [1 2 3; 3 3 4; 2 3 3];
b = [1; 1; 2];
x = A\b

• Save the file, for example, example1.m.

• Run the file, in the command line, by typing:

>> example1
x =
-0.5000
1.5000
-0.5000

When execution completes, the variables (A, b, and x) remain in the workspace. To see a
listing of them, enter whos at the command prompt.

46
Example 2

Plot the following sine functions, y1 = sin(x), y2 = sin(x − 0.25), and y3 = sin(x − 0.50), in
the interval 0 ≤ x ≤ 2π.
Solution:

• Create a file, example2.m, as follows:

x = 0:pi/100:2*pi;
y1 = sin(x);
y2 = sin(x-0.25);
y3 = sin(x-0.50);
plot(x,y1,x,y2,x,y3)
legend(’sin(x)’,’sin(x-0.25)’,’sin(x-0.50)’)
xlabel(’x’)
ylabel(’Sine functions’)

• Display the plot

1
sin(x)
0.8 sin(x−0.25)
sin(x−0.50)
0.6

0.4
Sine functions

0.2

−0.2

−0.4

−0.6

−0.8

−1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
x

Script side-effects

All variables created in a script file are added to the workspace. This may have undesirable
effects, because:

47
 • Variables already existing in the workspace may be overwtitten.

• The execution of the script can be affected by the state variables in the workspace.

Because scripts have side effects, it is better to code any complicated applications in a
function M-file.

5.3 M-File Functions

Functions are program routines that accept input arguments and return output argument.
Each M-file function (or function or M-file for short) has its own area of workspace, separated
from the MATLAB base workspace.

5.3.1 Basic parts of an M-File

This simple function shows the basic parts of an M-file.

function f = factorial(n) (1)

% Compute a factorial value. (2)
% FACT(N) returns the factorial of N. (3)
f = prod(1:n); (4)

The table below briefly describes each of these M-file parts. The first of a function M-file

function y = factorial(n)

input argument
function name
output argument
keyword

Figure 5.1: M-file parts

starts with the keyword function. Its give the function name and order of arguments. In the
case of function factorial, there are up to one output argument and one input argument.
Both functions and scripts can have have all of these parts, except for the function definition

48
 Part no. M-file element Description
(1) Function Define the function name, and the
definition number and order of input and
line output arguments
(2) H1 line A one line summary description
of the program, displayed when you
request Help
(3) Help text A more detailed description of
the program
(4) Function body Program code that performs
the actual computations

line which applies to function only. In addition, it is important to note that function name
must begin with a letter, and must be no longer than than the maximum of 63 characters.
Furthermore, the name of the text file that you save will consist of the function name with
the extension .m. Thus, the above example file would be factorial.m.
Therefore, the differences between scripts and functions are summarized in the table
below.

Scripts Functions
- Do not accept input - Can accept input arguments and
arguments or return output return output arguments.
arguments.
- Store variables in a - Store variables in a workspace
workspace that is shared internal to the function.
with other scripts
- Are useful for automating - Are useful for extending the MATLAB
a series of commands language for your application

5.4 Input to a script file

When a script file is executed, the variables that are used in the calculations within the file
must have assigned values. The assignment of a value to a variable can be done in three
ways.

1. The variable is defined in the script file.

2. The variable is defined in the command prompt.

49
 3. The variable is entered when the script is executed.

We have already seen the two first cases. Here, we will focus our attention on the third one.
In this case, the variable is defined in the script file. When the file is executed, the user is
prompted to assign a value to the variable in the command prompt. This is done by using
the input command. Here is an example.

% This script file calculates the average of points

% scored in three games.
% The point from each game are assigned to a variable
% by using the ‘input’ command.

game1 = input(’Enter the points scored in the first game ’);

game2 = input(’Enter the points scored in the second game ’);
game3 = input(’Enter the points scored in the third game ’);
average = (game1+game2+game3)/3

The following shows the command prompt when this script file (saved as ch5ex2) is executed.

>> ch5ex2
>> Enter the points scored in the first game 15
>> Enter the points scored in the second game 23
>> Enter the points scored in the third game 10

average =
16

The input command can also be used to assign string to a variable. For more information,
see MATLAB documentation.

5.5 Output commands

As discussed before, MATLAB automatically generates a display when commands are exe-
cuted. In addition to this automatic display, MATLAB has several commands that can be
used to generate displays or outputs. Two commands that are frequently used to generate
output are: disp and fprintf. The main differences between these two commands can be
summarized as follows. Therefore, output to the Command Window is achieved with either
the disp command or the fprintf command. On the other hand, output to a file requires
the fprintf command.

50
 disp . Simple to use.
. Provide limited control over the appearance of output

fprintf . Slightly more complicated than disp.

. Provide total control over the appearance of output

5.5.1 Summary of input and output arguments

As mentioned above, the input arguments are listed inside parentheses following the function
name. The output arguments are listed inside the brackets on the left side. They are used
to transfer the output from the function file. Function file can have none, one, or several
output arguments. Table 5.1 illustrates some possible combinations of input and output
arguments.

function C=FtoC(F) One input argument and one output argument

function area=traparea(a,b,h) three inputs and one output
function [h,d]=motion(v,angle) Two inputs and two outputs
Table 5.1: Example of input and output arguments

5.5.2 Examples
The fprintf command

The fprintf command can be used to display output (text and data) on the screen or to save
it to a file. With this command, unlike the disp command, the output can be formatted.
With many available options, the fprintf can be long and complicated. Recall the above
example.

% This script file calculates the average of points

% scored in three games.
% Here we will use ’fprintf’ command for output.

game(1) = input(’Enter the points scored in the first game ’);

game(2) = input(’Enter the points scored in the second game ’);
game(3) = input(’Enter the points scored in the third game ’);
average = mean(game);
fprintf(’An average of %8.4f points was scored in 3 games ’,average)

>> ch5ex2
Enter the points scored in the first game 15

51
 Enter the points scored in the second game 23
Enter the points scored in the third game 10
An average of 16.0000 points was scored in 3 games

Here is another simplified example.

>> x = 2;
>> fprintf(‘The square root of %g is %8.5f\n’,x,sqrt(x))

The square toot of x is 1.41421

The following table shows the basic conversion codes. In addition to MATLAB documen-

code Description

%f Format as a floating-point value

%e Format as a floating-point value in scientific notation
%g Format in the most compact form of either %f or %e
%s Format as a string
\n Insert new line in output string
\t Insert tab in output string

tation, we would recommend a typical example of application described in our recent paper
[12].

5.6 Exercises
1. Liz buys three apples, a dozen bananas, and one cantaloupe for $2.36. Bob buys a dozen
apples and two cantaloupe for $5.26. Carol buys two bananas and three cantaloupe
for $2.77. How much do single pieces of each fruit cost?
2. Write a function file that converts temperature in degrees Fahrenheit (◦ F) to degrees
Centigrade (◦ C). Use input and fprintf commands to display a mix of text and
numbers. Recall the conversion formulation, C = 5/9 ∗ (F − 32).
3. Write a user-defined MATLAB function, with two input and two output arguments
that determines the height in centimeters (cm) and mass in kilograms (kg)of a person
from his height in inches (in.) and weight in pounds (lb).
(a) Determine in SI units the height and mass of a 5 ft.15 in. person who weight 180
lb.
(b) Determine your own height and weight in SI units.

52
Chapter 6

MATLAB programming

6.1 Introduction
MATLAB is also a programming language. By creating a file with the extension .m, we can
easily write and run programs. We do not need to compile the program since MATLAB is
an interpretative (not compiled) language. MATLAB has thousand of functions, and you
can add your own using m-files.
MATLAB provides several tools that can be used to control the flow of a program
(script or function). In a simple program as shown in the previous Chapter, the commands
are executed one after the other. Here we introduce the flow control structure that make
possible to skip commands or to execute specific group of commands. We are going to
describe the basic programming constructions.

6.2 Flow control

MATLAB supports the basic flow control structures found in most high level programming
languages. The syntax is a hybrid of C and FORTRAN.

6.2.1 The if...end structure

MATLAB supports the variants of “if” construct.

• if ... end

• if ... else ... end

• if ... elseif ... else ... end

53
Here are some examples based on the familiar quadratic formula.

1. discr = b*b - 4*a*c;

if discr < 0
disp(’Warning: discriminant is negative, roots are
imaginary’);
end

2. discr = b*b - 4*a*c;

if discr < 0
disp(’Warning: discriminant is negative, roots are
imaginary’);
else
disp(’Roots are real, but may be repeated’)
end

3. discr = b*b - 4*a*c;

if discr < 0
disp(’Warning: discriminant is negative, roots are
imaginary’);
elseif discr == 0
disp(’Discriminant is zero, roots are repeated’)
else
disp(’Roots are real)
end

It should also be noted that:

• elseif has no space between else and if (one word)

• the end statement is required
• no semicolon (;) is needed at the end of lines containing if, else, end
• indentation of if block is not required, but facilitate the reading.

6.2.2 Relational operators

A relational operator compares two numbers by determining whether a comparison is true
or false. Relational operators are shown in Table below. Note that the “equal to” relational
operator consists of two == signs (with no space between them), since one = is reserved for
the assignment operator.

54
 Operator Description

> Greater than

< Less than
>= Greater than or equal to
<= Less than or equal to
== Equal to
∼= Not equal to

Operator precedence

We can build expressions that use any combination of arithmetic, relational, and logical
operators. Precedence rules determine the order in which MATLAB evaluates an expression.
We have already seen this in the “Tutorial Lessons”. Her we add other operators in the list.
The precedence rules for MATLAB are shown in this list, ordered from highest to lowest
precedence level. Operators are evaluated from left to right.

1. Parentheses ()

2. Transpose (. 0 ), power (.ˆ), matrix power (ˆ)

3. Unary plus (+), unary minus (−), logical negation (∼)

4. Multiplication (. ∗), right division (. /), left division (.\), matrix multiplication (∗),
matrix right division (/), matrix left division (\)

5. Addition (+), subtraction (−)

6. Colon operator (:)

7. Less than (<), less than or equal to (≤), greater (>), greater than or equal to (≥),
equal to (==), not equal to (∼=)

8. Element-wise AND, (&)

9. Element-wise OR, (|)

10. Short-circuit AND (&&)

11. Short-circuit OR, (| |)

55
6.2.3 The for...end loop
In “for ... end” loop, the execution of a command is repeated at a fixed and predeter-
mined number of times. A matching end delineates the statements. A simple example of
for loop is:

for ii=1:5
x=ii*ii
end

It is a good idea to indent the loops for readability, especially when they are nested.

for i=1,m
for j=1,n
A(i,j)=1/(i+j);
end
end

6.2.4 The while...end loop

This loop is used when the number of passes is not specified. The looping continues until
a stated condition is satisfied. An example of a simple “while ... end” is shown in the
following program.

x = 1
while x <= 10
x = 3*x
end

It is important to note that if the condition inside the looping is not well defined, the looping
will continue indefinitely. If this happens, we can stop the execution by pressing Ctrl-C.

6.2.5 Other flow structures

Other control statements include return, continue, switch, and break. For more detail
about these commands, consul MATLAB documentation. Table xx briefly summarize the
main points on how to use them.

6.3 Saving output to a file

In addition to displaying output on the screen, the fprintf command can be used for writing
the output to a file.The saved data can subsequently be used by MATLAB or other softwares.

56
 To save the results of some computation to a file in text format requires the following
steps:

1. Open a file using fopen

2. Write the output using fprintf command
3. Close the file using fclose

Here is an example (script) of its use.

% write some variable length strings to a file

op = fopen(’weekdays.txt’,’wt’);
fprintf(op,’Sunday\nMonday\nTuesday\nWednesday\n’);
fprintf(op,’Thursday\nFriday\nSaturday\n’);
fclose(op);

This file (weekdays.txt) can be opened with any program that can read .txt file.
Here is a second example.

fid = fopen(’alphabet.txt’, ’r’);

c = fread(fid, 5, ’uint8=>char’)’
fclose(fid);

c =
ABCDE

Exercises
1. Use MATLAB in two different ways to plot the function:

 4ex+2 for −6 ≤ x ≤ −2
f (x) = x2 for −2 ≤ x ≤ 2
 1/3
(x + 62) for 2 ≤ x ≤ 6
(a) Create a user-defined function for f (x)
(b) Write a program in a script file, use the above function, and make the plot.
2. The function ex can be represented in Taylor’s series by
x2
ex = 1 + x + + ··· (6.1)
2!
∞
X xn
=
n=0
n!

57
 (a) Write a program in a script file that determines ex by using the Taylor series
expansion. The program calculates ex by adding terms of the series and stopping
when the absolute value of the term that was added last is smaller than 10−6 .
The limit number of passes is 30. If in the 30th pass, the value of the term that
is added is not smaller than 10−6 , the program stops and displays a message that
more than 30 terms are needed. Use the program to calculate e3 , e−5 , and e10 .
(b) Write a program in a function file, using the same procedure mentioned in (a).
Then calculate e3 , e−5 , and e10 .
(c) Compare the two approaches.

3. Write a user-defined function which generates two unit conversion tables. One table
converts velocity units from miles per hour to kilometers per hour, and the other table
converts force units from pounds to Newtons. Each conversion table is saved to a
different text file.

4. Write a script file to solve the problem in number theory. Start with any positive
integer n. Repeat the following steps:

• If n = 1, stop.
• If n is even, replace it with n/2.
• If n is odd, replace it with 3n + 1.

For example, starting with n = 7 produces 7,22,11,34,17,52,26,13,40,20,10,5,16,8,4,2,1.

The sequence terminates after 17 steps. Plot the corresponding graph.

58
Chapter 7

Debugging M-files

7.1 Introduction
This section introduces general techniques for finding errors in M-files. Debugging is the
process by which you isolate and fix errors in your program or code.
Debugging helps to correct two kind of errors:

• Syntax errors - For example omitting a parenthesis or misspelling a function name.

• Run-time errors - Run-time errors are usually apparent and difficult to track down.
They produce unexpected results.

7.2 Debugging process

We can debug the M-files using the Editor/Debugger as well as using debugging functions
from the Command Window. The debugging process consists of

• Preparing for debugging

• Setting breakpoints

• Running an M-file with breakpoints

• Stepping through an M-file

• Examining values

• Correcting problems

• Ending debugging

59
7.2.1 Preparing for debugging
Here we use the Editor/Debugger for debugging. Do the following to prepare for debugging:

• Open the file

• Save changes

• Be sure the file you run and any files it calls are in the directories that are on the
search path.

7.2.2 Setting breakpoints

Set breakpoints to pause execution of the function, so we can examine where the problem
might be. There are three basic types of breakpoints:

• A standard breakpoint, which stops at a specified line.

• A conditional breakpoint, which stops at a specified line and under specified conditions.

• An error breakpoint that stops when it produces the specified type of warning, error,
NaN, or infinite value.

You cannot set breakpoints while MATLAB is busy, for example, running an M-file.

7.2.3 Running with breakpoints

After setting breakpoints, run the M-file from the Editor/Debugger or from the Command
Window. Running the M-file results in the following:

• The prompt in the Command Window changes to

K>>

indicating that MATLAB is in debug mode.

• The program pauses at the first breakpoint. This means that line will be executed
when you continue. The pause is indicated by the green arrow.

• In breakpoint, we can examine variable, step through programs, and run other calling
functions.

60
7.2.4 Examining values
While the program is paused, we can view the value of any variable currently in the
workspace. Examine values when we want to see whether a line of code has produced
the expected result or not. If the result is as expected, step to the next line, and continue
running. If the result is not as expected, then that line, or the previous line, contains an
error. When we run a program, the current workspace is shown in the Stack field. Use who
or whos to list the variables in the current workspace.

Viewing values as datatips

First, we position the cursor to the left of a variable on that line. Its current value appears.
This is called a datatip, which is like a tooltip for data. If you have trouble getting the
datatip to appear, click in the line and then move the cursor next to the variable.

7.2.5 Correcting and ending debugging

While debugging, we can change the value of a variable to see if the new value produces
expected results. While the program is paused, assign a new value to the variable in the Com-
mand Window, Workspace browser, or Array Editor. Then continue running and stepping
through the program.

7.2.6 Ending debugging

After identifying a problem, end the debugging session. It is best to quit debug mode before
editing an M-file. Otherwise, you can get unexpected results when you run the file. To end
debugging, select Exit Debug Mode from the Debug menu.

7.2.7 Correcting an M-file

To correct errors in an M-file,

• Quit debugging

• Do not make changes to an M-file while MATLAB is in debug mode

• Make changes to the M-file

• Save the M-file

• Clear breakpoints

61
 • Run the M-file again to be sure it produces the expected results.

For details on debugging process, see MATLAB documentation.

62
Appendix A

Summary of commands

Table A.1: Arithmetic operators and special characters

Character Description

+ Addition
− Subtraction
∗ Multiplication (scalar and array)
/ Division (right)
ˆ Power or exponentiation
: Colon; creates vectors with equally spaced elements
; Semi-colon; suppresses display; ends row in array
, Comma; separates array subscripts
... Continuation of lines
% Percent; denotes a comment; specifies output format
0
Single quote; creates string; specifies matrix transpose
= Assignment operator
() Parentheses; encloses elements of arrays and input arguments
[] Brackets; encloses matrix elements and output arguments

63
 Table A.2: Array operators
Character Description

.∗ Array multiplication
./ Array (right) division
.ˆ Array power
.\ Array (left) division
.0 Array (nonconjugated) transpose

Table A.3: Relational and logical operators

Character Description

< Less than

≤ Less than or equal to
> Greater than
≥ Greater than or equal to
== Equal to
∼= Not equal to
& Logical or element-wise AND
| Logical or element-wise OR
&& Short-circuit AND
|| Short-circuit OR

64
 Table A.4: Managing workspace and file commands
Command Description

cd Change current directory

clc Clear the Command Window
clear (all) Removes all variables from the workspace
clear x Remove x from the workspace
copyfile Copy file or directory
delete Delete files
dir Display directory listing
exist Check if variables or functions are defined
help Display help for MATLAB functions
lookfor Search for specified word in all help entries
mkdir Make new directory
movefile Move file or directory
pwd Identify current directory
rmdir Remove directory
type Display contents of file
what List MATLAB files in current directory
which Locate functions and files
who Display variables currently in the workspace
whos Display information on variables in the workspace

Table A.5: Predefined variables and math constants

Variable Description

ans Value of last variable (answer)

eps Floating-point relative accuracy
i Imaginary unit of a complex number
Inf Infinity (∞)
eps Floating-point relative accuracy
j Imaginary unit of a complex number
NaN Not a number
pi The number π (3.14159 . . .)

65
 Table A.6: Elementary matrices and arrays
Command Description

eye Identity matrix

linspace Generate linearly space vectors
ones Create array of all ones
rand Uniformly distributed random numbers and arrays
zeros Create array of all zeros

Table A.7: Arrays and Matrices: Basic information

Command Description

disp Display text or array

isempty Determine if input is empty matrix
isequal Test arrays for equality
length Length of vector
ndims Number of dimensions
numel Number of elements
size Size of matrix

Table A.8: Arrays and Matrices: operations and manipulation

Command Description

cross Vector cross product

diag Diagonal matrices and diagonals of matrix
dot Vector dot product
end Indicate last index of array
find Find indices of nonzero elements
kron Kronecker tensor product
max Maximum value of array
min Minimum value of array
prod Product of array elements
reshape Reshape array
sort Sort array elements
sum Sum of array elements
size Size of matrix

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Table A.9: Arrays and Matrices: matrix analysis and linear equations
Command Description

cond Condition number with respect to inversion

det Determinant
inv Matrix inverse
linsolve Solve linear system of equations
lu LU factorization
norm Matrix or vector norm
null Null space
orth Orthogonalization
rank Matrix rank
rref Reduced row echelon form
trace Sum of diagonal elements

67
Appendix B

Release notes for Release 14 with

Service Pack 2

B.1 Summary of changes

MATLAB 7 Release 14 with Service Pack 2 (R14SP2) includes several new features. The
major focus of R14SP2 is on improving the quality of the product. The following key points
may be relevant:

1. Spaces before numbers - For example: A* .5, you will typically get a mystifying
message saying that A was previously used as a variable. There are two workarounds:

(a) Remove all the spaces:

A*.5

(b) Or, put a zero in front of the dot:

A * 0.5

2. RHS empty matrix - The right-hand side must literally be the empty matrix [ ]. It
cannot be a variable that has the value [ ], as shown here:

rhs = [];
A(:,2) = rhs
??? Subscripted assignment dimension mismatch

3. New format option - We can display MATLAB output using two new formats:
short eng and long eng.

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 • short eng – Displays output in engineering format that has at least 5 digits and
a power that is a multiple of three.
>> format short eng
>> pi
ans =
3.1416e+000

• long eng – Displays output in engineering format that has 16 significant digits
and a power that is a multiple of three.
>> format long eng
>> pi
ans =
3.14159265358979e+000

4. Help - To get help for a subfunction, use

>> help function_name>subfunction_name

In previous versions, the syntax was

>> help function_name/subfunction_name

This change was introduced in R14 (MATLAB 7.0) but was not documented. Use the
MathWorks Web site search features to look for the latest information.

5. Publishing - Publishing to LATEXnow respects the image file type you specify in pref-
erences rather than always using EPSC2-files.

• The Publish image options in Editor/Debugger preferences for Publishing Images

have changed slightly. The changes prevent you from choosing invalid formats.
• The files created when publishing using cells now have more natural extensions.
For example, JPEG-files now have a .jpg instead of a .jpeg extension, and EPSC2-
files now have an .eps instead of an .epsc2 extension.
• Notebook will no longer support Microsoft Word 97 starting in the next release
of MATLAB.

6. Debugging - Go directly to a subfunction or using the enhanced Go To dialog box.

Click the Name column header to arrange the list of function alphabetically, or click
the Line column header to arrange the list by the position of the functions in the file.

69
B.2 Other changes
1. There is a new command mlint, which will scan an M-file and show inefficiencies in
the code. For example, it will tell you if you’ve defined a variable you’ve never used, if
you’ve failed to pre-allocate an array, etc. These are common mistakes in EA1 which
produce runnable but inefficient code.

2. You can comment-out a block of code without putting % at the beginning of each line.
The format is

%{

Stuff you want MATLAB to ignore...

%}

The delimiters %{ and %} must appear on lines by themselves, and it may not work
with the comments used in functions to interact with the help system (like the H1
line).

3. There is a new function linsolve which will solve Ax = b but with the user’s choice of
algorithm. This is in addition to left division x = A\b which uses a default algorithm.

4. The eps constant now takes an optional argument. eps(x) is the same as the old
eps*abs(x).

5. You can break an M-file up into named cells (blocks of code), each of which you can
run separately. This may be useful for testing/debugging code.

6. Functions now optionally end with the end keyword. This keyword is mandatory when
working with nested functions.

B.3 Further details

1. You can dock and un-dock windows from the main window by clicking on an icon.
Thus you can choose to have all Figures, M-files being edited, help browser, command
window, etc. All appear as panes in a single window.

2. Error messages in the command window resulting from running an M-file now include
a clickable link to the offending line in the editor window containing the M-file.

3. You can customize figure interactively (labels, line styles, etc.) and then automatically
generate the code which reproduces the customized figure.

70
4. feval is no longer needed when working with function handles, but still works for
backward compatibility. For example, x=@sin; x(pi) will produce sin(pi) just like
feval(x,pi) does, but faster.

5. You can use function handles to create anonymous functions.

6. There is support for nested functions, namely, functions defined within the body of
another function. This is in addition to sub-functions already available in version 6.5.

7. There is more support in arithmetic operations for numeric data types other than
double, e.g. single, int8, int16, uint8, uint32, etc.

Finally, please see our webpage for other details:

http://computing.mccormick.northwestern.edu/matlab/

71
Appendix C

Main characteristics of MATLAB

C.1 History
• Developed primarily by Cleve Moler in the 1970’s

• Derived from FORTRAN subroutines LINPACK and EISPACK, linear and eigenvalue
systems.

• Developed primarily as an interactive system to access LINPACK and EISPACK.

• Gained its popularity through word of mouth, because it was not officially distributed.

• Rewritten in C in the 1980’s with more functionality, which include plotting routines.

• The MathWorks Inc. was created (1984) to market and continue development of
MATLAB.

According to Cleve Moler, three other men played important roles in the origins of MATLAB:
J. H. Wilkinson, George Forsythe, and John Todd. It is also interesting to mention the
authors of LINPACK: Jack Dongara, Pete Steward, Jim Bunch, and Cleve Moler. Since
then another package emerged: LAPACK. LAPACK stands for Linear Algebra Package. It
has been designed to supersede LINPACK and EISPACK.

C.2 Strengths
• MATLAB may behave as a calculator or as a programming language

• MATLAB combine nicely calculation and graphic plotting.

• MATLAB is relatively easy to learn

72
 • MATLAB is interpreted (not compiled), errors are easy to fix

• MATLAB is optimized to be relatively fast when performing matrix operations

• MATLAB does have some object-oriented elements

C.3 Weaknesses
• MATLAB is not a general purpose programming language such as C, C++, or FOR-
TRAN

• MATLAB is designed for scientific computing, and is not well suitable for other appli-
cations

• MATLAB is an interpreted language, slower than a compiled language such as C++

• MATLAB commands are specific for MATLAB usage. Most of them do not have a
direct equivalent with other programming language commands

C.4 Competition
• One of MATLAB’s competitors is Mathematica, the symbolic computation program.

• MATLAB is more convenient for numerical analysis and linear algebra. It is frequently
used in engineering community.

• Mathematica has superior symbolic manipulation, making it popular among physicists.

• There are other competitors:

– Scilab
– GNU Octave
– Rlab

73
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[2] S. J. Chapman. MATLAB Programming for Engineers. Thomson, 2004.

[3] A. Gilat. MATLAB: An introduction with Applications. John Wiley and Sons, 2004.

[4] C. B. Moler. Numerical Computing with MATLAB. Siam, 2004.

[5] C. F. Van Loan. Introduction to Scientific Computing. Prentice Hall, 1997.

[6] D. J. Higham and N. J. Higham. MATLAB Guide. Siam, second edition edition, 2005.

[7] K. R. Coombes, B. R. Hunt, R. L. Lipsman, J. E. Osborn, and G. J. Stuck. Differential

Equations with MATLAB. John Wiley and Sons, 2000.

[8] J. Cooper. A MATLAB Companion for Multivariable Calculus. Academic Press, 2001.

[9] J. C. Polking and D. Arnold. ODE using MATLAB. Prentice Hall, 2004.

[10] D. Kahaner, C. Moler, and S. Nash. Numerical Methods and Software. Prentice-Hall,
1989.

[11] J. W. Demmel. Applied Numerical Linear Algebra. Siam, 1997.

[12] D. Houcque. Applications of MATLAB: Ordinary Differential Equations. Internal

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