Getting Started with MATLAB Help Desk


Introduction


What Is MATLAB?

MATLAB® is a high-performance language for technical computing. It integrates computation, visualization, and programming in an easy-to-use environment where problems and solutions are expressed in familiar mathematical notation. Typical uses include:

MATLAB is an interactive system whose basic data element is an array that does not require dimensioning. This allows you to solve many technical computing problems, especially those with matrix and vector formulations, in a fraction of the time it would take to write a program in a scalar noninteractive language such as C or Fortran.

The name MATLAB stands for matrix laboratory. MATLAB was originally written to provide easy access to matrix software developed by the LINPACK and EISPACK projects, which together represent the state-of-the-art in software for matrix computation.

MATLAB has evolved over a period of years with input from many users. In university environments, it is the standard instructional tool for introductory and advanced courses in mathematics, engineering, and science. In industry, MATLAB is the tool of choice for high-productivity research, development, and analysis.

MATLAB features a family of application-specific solutions called toolboxes. Very important to most users of MATLAB, toolboxes allow you to learn and apply specialized technology. Toolboxes are comprehensive collections of MATLAB functions (M-files) that extend the MATLAB environment to solve particular classes of problems. Areas in which toolboxes are available include signal processing, control systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic, wavelets, simulation, and many others.

The MATLAB System

The MATLAB system consists of five main parts:

The MATLAB language.

This is a high-level matrix/array language with control flow statements, functions, data structures, input/output, and object-oriented programming features. It allows both "programming in the small" to rapidly create quick and dirty throw-away programs, and "programming in the large" to create complete large and complex application programs. The language features are organized into six directories in the MATLAB Toolbox:

ops

Operators and special characters.

lang

Programming language constructs.

strfun

Character strings.

iofun

File input/output.

timefun

Time and dates.

datatypes

Data types and structures.

The MATLAB working environment.

This is the set of tools and facilities that you work with as the MATLAB user or programmer. It includes facilities for managing the variables in your workspace and importing and exporting data. It also includes tools for developing, managing, debugging, and profiling M-files, MATLAB's applications. The working environment features are located in a single directory.

general

General purpose commands.

Handle Graphics®.

This is the MATLAB graphics system. It includes high-level commands for 2-D and 3-D data visualization, image processing, animation, and presentation graphics. It also includes low-level commands that allow you to fully customize the appearance of graphics as well as to build complete Graphical User Interfaces on your MATLAB applications. The graphics functions are organized into five directories in the MATLAB Toolbox.

graph2d

Two dimensional graphs.

graph3d

Three dimensional graphs.

specgraph

Specialized graphs.

graphics

Handle Graphics.

uitools

Graphical user interface tools.

The MATLAB mathematical function library.

This is a vast collection of computational algorithms ranging from elementary functions like sum, sine, cosine, and complex arithmetic, to more sophisticated functions like matrix inverse, matrix eigenvalues, Bessel functions, and fast Fourier transforms. The math and analytic functions are organized into eight directories in the MATLAB Toolbox.

elmat

Elementary matrices and matrix manipulation.

elfun

Elementary math functions.

specfun

Specialized math functions.

matfun

Matrix functions - numerical linear algebra.

datafun

Data analysis and Fourier transforms.

polyfun

Interpolation and polynomials.

funfun

Function functions and ODE solvers.

sparfun

Sparse matrices.

The MATLAB Application Programmer's Interface (API).

This is library that allows you to write C and Fortran programs that interact with MATLAB. It include facilities for calling routines from MATLAB (dynamic linking), calling MATLAB as a computational engine, and for reading and writing MAT-files.

How to Use the Documentation Set

MATLAB comes with an extensive set of documentation consisting of an online Help facility and online function reference as well as printed manuals. The full set of printed documentation includes the following titles:

About SIMULINK

SIMULINK®, a companion program to MATLAB, is an interactive system for simulating nonlinear dynamic systems. It is a graphical mouse-driven program that allows you to model a system by drawing a block diagram on the screen and manipulating it dynamically. It can work with linear, nonlinear, continuous-time, discrete-time, multivariable, and multirate system.

Blocksets are add-ins to SIMULINK that provide additional libraries of block for specialized applications like communications, signal processing, and power systems.

Real-time Workshop is a program that allows you to generate C code from your block diagrams and to run it on a variety of real-time systems.

About Toolboxes

MATLAB features a family of application-specific solutions called toolboxes. Very important to most users of MATLAB, toolboxes allow you to learn and apply specialized technology. Toolboxes are comprehensive collections of MATLAB functions (M-files) that extend the MATLAB environment in order to solve particular classes of problems. Many toolboxes are available from The MathWorks. Some of these are listed on the following page; contact The MathWorks or visit www.mathworks.com for a complete up-to-date list.






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