MATLAB

Local Environment Setup

Setting up MATLAB environment is a matter of few clicks. The installer can
be downloaded from here.

MathWorks provides the licensed product, a trial version and a student

version as well. You need to log into the site and wait a little for their
approval.

After downloading the installer the software can be installed through few
clicks.
Understanding the MATLAB Environment
MATLAB development IDE can be launched from the icon created on the
desktop. The main working window in MATLAB is called the desktop. When
MATLAB is started, the desktop appears in its default layout

The desktop has the following panels

Current Folder This panel allows you to access the project folders and files.

Command Window This is the main area where commands can be entered
at the command line. It is indicated by the command prompt (>>).
 Workspace The workspace shows all the variables created and/or imported
from files.

Command History This panel shows or rerun commands that are entered at
the command line.

MATLAB environment behaves like a super-complex calculator. You can

enter commands at the >> command prompt.

MATLAB is an interpreted environment. In other words, you give a

command and MATLAB executes it right away.

Hands on Practice
Type a valid expression, for example,

5+5

And press ENTER

When you click the Execute button, or type Ctrl+E, MATLAB executes it
immediately and the result returned is

ans = 10

Let us take up few more examples

3^2 % 3 raised to the power of 2

When you click the Execute button, or type Ctrl+E, MATLAB executes it
immediately and the result returned is

ans = 9

Another example,

sin(pi /2) % sine of angle 90o

When you click the Execute button, or type Ctrl+E, MATLAB executes it
immediately and the result returned is

ans = 1

Another example,

7/0 % Divide by zero

When you click the Execute button, or type Ctrl+E, MATLAB executes it
immediately and the result returned is

ans = Inf
warning: division by zero

Another example,

732 * 20.3

When you click the Execute button, or type Ctrl+E, MATLAB executes it
immediately and the result returned is
ans = 1.4860e+04

MATLAB provides some special expressions for some mathematical symbols,

like pi for , Inf for , i (and j) for -1 etc. Nan stands for 'not a number'.

Use of Semicolon (;) in MATLAB

Semicolon (;) indicates end of statement. However, if you want to suppress
and hide the MATLAB output for an expression, add a semicolon after the
expression.

For example,

x = 3;
y=x+5

When you click the Execute button, or type Ctrl+E, MATLAB executes it
immediately and the result returned is

y= 8

Adding Comments
The percent symbol (%) is used for indicating a comment line. For example,

x=9 % assign the value 9 to x

You can also write a block of comments using the block comment operators
% { and % }.

The MATLAB editor includes tools and context menu items to help you add,
remove, or change the format of comments.

Commonly used Operators and Special

Characters
MATLAB supports the following commonly used operators and special
characters

Operator Purpose
+ Plus; addition operator.

- Minus; subtraction operator.

* Scalar and matrix multiplication operator.

.* Array multiplication operator.

^ Scalar and matrix exponentiation operator.

.^ Array exponentiation operator.

\ Left-division operator.

/ Right-division operator.

.\ Array left-division operator.

./ Array right-division operator.

: Colon; generates regularly spaced elements and

represents an entire row or column.

() Parentheses; encloses function arguments and

array indices; overrides precedence.

[] Brackets; enclosures array elements.

. Decimal point.

Ellipsis; line-continuation operator

, Comma; separates statements and elements in a
row

; Semicolon; separates columns and suppresses

display.

% Percent sign; designates a comment and specifies

formatting.

_ Quote sign and transpose operator.

._ Nonconjugated transpose operator.

= Assignment operator.

Special Variables and Constants

MATLAB supports the following special variables and constants:

Name Meaning

ans Most recent answer.

eps Accuracy of floating-point precision.

i,j The imaginary unit -1.

Inf Infinity.

NaN Undefined numerical result (not a number).

pi The number
Naming Variables
Variable names consist of a letter followed by any number of letters, digits
or underscore.

MATLAB is case-sensitive.

Variable names can be of any length, however, MATLAB uses only first N
characters, where N is given by the function namelengthmax.

Saving Your Work

The save command is used for saving all the variables in the workspace, as
a file with .mat extension, in the current directory.

For example,

save myfile

You can reload the file anytime later using the load command.

load myfile

In MATLAB environment, every variable is an array or matrix.

You can assign variables in a simple way. For example,

x=3 % defining x and initializing it with a value

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

x=3

It creates a 1-by-1 matrix named x and stores the value 3 in its element.
Let us check another example,

x = sqrt(16) % defining x and initializing it with an expression

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result
x=4

Please note that

Once a variable is entered into the system, you can refer to it later.

Variables must have values before they are used.

When an expression returns a result that is not assigned to any variable, the
system assigns it to a variable named ans, which can be used later.

For example,

sqrt(78)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans = 8.8318

You can use this variable ans

sqrt(78);
9876/ans

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans = 1118.2

Let's look at another example

x = 7 * 8;
y = x * 7.89

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

y = 441.84

Multiple Assignments
You can have multiple assignments on the same line. For example,
a = 2; b = 7; c = a * b

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

c = 14

I have forgotten the Variables!

The who command displays all the variable names you have used.

who

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

Your variables are:

a ans b c

The whos command displays little more about the variables

Variables currently in memory

Type of each variables

Memory allocated to each variable

Whether they are complex variables or not

whos

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

Attr Name Size Bytes Class

==== ==== ==== ==== =====
a 1x1 8 double
ans 1x70 757 cell
b 1x1 8 double
c 1x1 8 double

Total is 73 elements using 781 bytes

The clear command deletes all (or the specified) variable(s) from the
memory.

clear x % it will delete x, won't display anything

clear % it will delete all variables in the workspace
 % peacefully and unobtrusively

Long Assignments
Long assignments can be extended to another line by using an ellipses (...).
For example,

initial_velocity = 0;
acceleration = 9.8;
time = 20;
final_velocity = initial_velocity + acceleration * time

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

final_velocity = 196

The format Command

By default, MATLAB displays numbers with four decimal place values. This is
known as short format.

However, if you want more precision, you need to use

the format command.

The format long command displays 16 digits after decimal.

For example

format long
x = 7 + 10/3 + 5 ^ 1.2

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

x = 17.2319816406394

Another example,

format short
x = 7 + 10/3 + 5 ^ 1.2

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

x = 17.232
The format bank command rounds numbers to two decimal places. For
example,

format bank
daily_wage = 177.45;
weekly_wage = daily_wage * 6

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

weekly_wage = 1064.70

MATLAB displays large numbers using exponential notation.

The format short e command allows displaying in exponential form with

four decimal places plus the exponent.

For example,

format short e
4.678 * 4.9

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans = 2.2922e+01

The format long e command allows displaying in exponential form with

four decimal places plus the exponent. For example,

format long e
x = pi

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

x = 3.141592653589793e+00

The format rat command gives the closest rational expression resulting
from a calculation. For example,

format rat
4.678 * 4.9

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result
ans = 34177/1491

Creating Vectors
A vector is a one-dimensional array of numbers. MATLAB allows creating
two types of vectors:

Row vectors

Column vectors

Row vectors are created by enclosing the set of elements in square

brackets, using space or comma to delimit the elements.

For example,

r = [7 8 9 10 11]

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

r=

7 8 9 10 11

Another example,

r = [7 8 9 10 11];
t = [2, 3, 4, 5, 6];
res = r + t

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

res =

9 11 13 15 17

Column vectors are created by enclosing the set of elements in square

brackets, using semicolon(;) to delimit the elements.

c = [7; 8; 9; 10; 11]

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result
c=
7
8
9
10
11

Creating Matrices
A matrix is a two-dimensional array of numbers.

In MATLAB, a matrix is created by entering each row as a sequence of space

or comma separated elements, and end of a row is demarcated by a
semicolon. For example, let us create a 3-by-3 matrix as:

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

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

m=
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

MATLAB is an interactive program for numerical computation and data

visualization. You can enter a command by typing it at the MATLAB prompt
'>>' on the Command Window.

In this section, we will provide lists of commonly used general MATLAB

commands.

Commands for Managing a Session

MATLAB provides various commands for managing a session. The following
table provides all such commands

Command Purpose

clc Clears command window.

clear Removes variables from memory.

exist Checks for existence of file or variable.

global Declares variables to be global.

help Searches for a help topic.

lookfor Searches help entries for a keyword.

quit Stops MATLAB.

who Lists current variables.

whos Lists current variables (long display).

Commands for Working with the System

MATLAB provides various useful commands for working with the system,
like saving the current work in the workspace as a file and loading the file
later.

It also provides various commands for other system-related activities like,

displaying date, listing files in the directory, displaying current directory,
etc.

The following table displays some commonly used system-related

commands

Command Purpose

cd Changes current directory.

date Displays current date.

delete Deletes a file.

diary Switches on/off diary file recording.

dir Lists all files in current directory.

load Loads workspace variables from a file.

path Displays search path.

pwd Displays current directory.

save Saves workspace variables in a file.

type Displays contents of a file.

what Lists all MATLAB files in the current directory.

wklread Reads .wk1 spreadsheet file.

Input and Output Commands

MATLAB provides the following input and output related commands

Command Purpose

disp Displays contents of an array or string.

fscanf Read formatted data from a file.

format Controls screen-display format.

fprintf Performs formatted writes to screen or file.

input Displays prompts and waits for input.

; Suppresses screen printing.

The fscanf and fprintf commands behave like C scanf and printf functions.
They support the following format codes

Format Code Purpose

%s Format as a string.

%d Format as an integer.

%f Format as a floating point value.

%e Format as a floating point value in scientific

notation.

%g Format in the most compact form: %f or %e.

\n Insert a new line in the output string.

\t Insert a tab in the output string.

The format function has the following forms used for numeric display

Format Display up to
Function

format short Four decimal digits (default).

format long 16 decimal digits.

format short e Five digits plus exponent.

format long e 16 digits plus exponents.

format bank Two decimal digits.

format + Positive, negative, or zero.

format rat Rational approximation.

format Suppresses some line feeds.

compact

format loose Resets to less compact display mode.

Vector, Matrix and Array Commands

The following table shows various commands used for working with arrays,
matrices and vectors

Command Purpose

cat Concatenates arrays.

find Finds indices of nonzero elements.

length Computes number of elements.

linspace Creates regularly spaced vector.

logspace Creates logarithmically spaced vector.

max Returns largest element.

min Returns smallest element.

prod Product of each column.

reshape Changes size.

size Computes array size.

sort Sorts each column.

sum Sums each column.

eye Creates an identity matrix.

ones Creates an array of ones.

zeros Creates an array of zeros.

cross Computes matrix cross products.

dot Computes matrix dot products.

det Computes determinant of an array.

inv Computes inverse of a matrix.

pinv Computes pseudoinverse of a matrix.

rank Computes rank of a matrix.

rref Computes reduced row echelon form.

cell Creates cell array.

celldisp Displays cell array.

cellplot Displays graphical representation of cell array.

num2cell Converts numeric array to cell array.

deal Matches input and output lists.

iscell Identifies cell array.

Plotting Commands
MATLAB provides numerous commands for plotting graphs. The following
table shows some of the commonly used commands for plotting

Command Purpose

axis Sets axis limits.

fplot Intelligent plotting of functions.

grid Displays gridlines.

plot Generates xy plot.

print Prints plot or saves plot to a file.

title Puts text at top of plot.

xlabel Adds text label to x-axis.

ylabel Adds text label to y-axis.

axes Creates axes objects.

close Closes the current plot.

close all Closes all plots.

figure Opens a new figure window.

gtext Enables label placement by mouse.

hold Freezes current plot.

legend Legend placement by mouse.

refresh Redraws current figure window.

set Specifies properties of objects such as axes.

subplot Creates plots in subwindows.

text Places string in figure.

bar Creates bar chart.

loglog Creates log-log plot.

polar Creates polar plot.

semilogx Creates semilog plot. (logarithmic abscissa).

semilogy Creates semilog plot. (logarithmic ordinate).

stairs Creates stairs plot.

stem Creates stem plot.

So far, we have used MATLAB environment as a calculator. However,

MATLAB is also a powerful programming language, as well as an interactive
computational environment.

In previous chapters, you have learned how to enter commands from the
MATLAB command prompt. MATLAB also allows you to write series of
commands into a file and execute the file as complete unit, like writing a
function and calling it.

The M Files
MATLAB allows writing two kinds of program files

Scripts script files are program files with .m extension. In these files, you
write series of commands, which you want to execute together. Scripts do not
accept inputs and do not return any outputs. They operate on data in the
workspace.
 Functions functions files are also program files with .m extension. Functions
can accept inputs and return outputs. Internal variables are local to the
function.

You can use the MATLAB editor or any other text editor to create
your .mfiles. In this section, we will discuss the script files. A script file
contains multiple sequential lines of MATLAB commands and function calls.
You can run a script by typing its name at the command line.

Creating and Running Script File

To create scripts files, you need to use a text editor. You can open the
MATLAB editor in two ways:

Using the command prompt

Using the IDE

If you are using the command prompt, type edit in the command prompt.
This will open the editor. You can directly type edit and then the filename
(with .m extension)

edit
Or
edit <filename>

The above command will create the file in default MATLAB directory. If you
want to store all program files in a specific folder, then you will have to
provide the entire path.

Let us create a folder named progs. Type the following commands at the
command prompt (>>):

mkdir progs % create directory progs under default directory

chdir progs % changing the current directory to progs
edit prog1.m % creating an m file named prog1.m
If you are creating the file for first time, MATLAB prompts you to confirm it.
Click Yes.

Alternatively, if you are using the IDE, choose NEW -> Script. This also
opens the editor and creates a file named Untitled. You can name and save
the file after typing the code.

Type the following code in the editor

NoOfStudents = 6000;
TeachingStaf = 150;
NonTeachingStaf = 20;
Total = NoOfStudents + TeachingStaf ...
+ NonTeachingStaf;
disp(Total);

After creating and saving the file, you can run it in two ways

Clicking the Run button on the editor window or

Just typing the filename (without extension) in the command prompt: >> prog1

The command window prompt displays the result

6170
Example

Create a script file, and type the following code

a = 5; b = 7;
c=a+b
d = c + sin(b)
e=5*d
f = exp(-d)

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following
result

c= 12
d= 12.657
e= 63.285
f= 3.1852e-06

MATLAB does not require any type declaration or dimension statements.

Whenever MATLAB encounters a new variable name, it creates the variable
and allocates appropriate memory space.

If the variable already exists, then MATLAB replaces the original content
with new content and allocates new storage space, where necessary.

For example,

Total = 42

The above statement creates a 1-by-1 matrix named 'Total' and stores the
value 42 in it.

Data Types Available in MATLAB

MATLAB provides 15 fundamental data types. Every data type stores data
that is in the form of a matrix or array. The size of this matrix or array is a
minimum of 0-by-0 and this can grow up to a matrix or array of any size.
The following table shows the most commonly used data types in MATLAB

Data Type Description

int8 8-bit signed integer

uint8 8-bit unsigned integer

int16 16-bit signed integer

uint16 16-bit unsigned integer

int32 32-bit signed integer

uint32 32-bit unsigned integer

int64 64-bit signed integer

uint64 64-bit unsigned integer

single single precision numerical data

double double precision numerical data

logical logical values of 1 or 0, represent true and false

respectively

char character data (strings are stored as vector of

characters)

cell array array of indexed cells, each capable of storing an

array of a different dimension and data type
 structure C-like structures, each structure having named
fields capable of storing an array of a different
dimension and data type

function handle pointer to a function

user classes objects constructed from a user-defined class

java classes objects constructed from a Java class

Example

Create a script file with the following code

str = 'Hello World!'

n = 2345
d = double(n)
un = uint32(789.50)
rn = 5678.92347
c = int32(rn)

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following
result

str = Hello World!

n = 2345
d = 2345
un = 790
rn = 5678.9
c = 5679

Data Type Conversion

MATLAB provides various functions for converting, a value from one data
type to another. The following table shows the data type conversion
functions
Function Purpose

char Convert to character array (string)

int2str Convert integer data to string

mat2str Convert matrix to string

num2str Convert number to string

str2double Convert string to double-precision value

str2num Convert string to number

native2unicode Convert numeric bytes to Unicode characters

unicode2native Convert Unicode characters to numeric bytes

base2dec Convert base N number string to decimal number

bin2dec Convert binary number string to decimal number

dec2base Convert decimal to base N number in string

dec2bin Convert decimal to binary number in string

dec2hex Convert decimal to hexadecimal number in string

hex2dec Convert hexadecimal number string to decimal

number
hex2num Convert hexadecimal number string to double-
precision number

num2hex Convert singles and doubles to IEEE hexadecimal

strings

cell2mat Convert cell array to numeric array

cell2struct Convert cell array to structure array

cellstr Create cell array of strings from character array

mat2cell Convert array to cell array with potentially

different sized cells

num2cell Convert array to cell array with consistently sized

cells

struct2cell Convert structure to cell array

Determination of Data Types

MATLAB provides various functions for identifying data type of a variable.

Following table provides the functions for determining the data type of a
variable

Function Purpose

is Detect state

isa Determine if input is object of specified class

iscell Determine whether input is cell array

iscellstr Determine whether input is cell array of strings

ischar Determine whether item is character array

isfield Determine whether input is structure array field

isfloat Determine if input is floating-point array

ishghandle True for Handle Graphics object handles

isinteger Determine if input is integer array

isjava Determine if input is Java object

islogical Determine if input is logical array

isnumeric Determine if input is numeric array

isobject Determine if input is MATLAB object

isreal Check if input is real array

isscalar Determine whether input is scalar

isstr Determine whether input is character array

isstruct Determine whether input is structure array

isvector Determine whether input is vector

 class Determine class of object

validateattributes Check validity of array

whos List variables in workspace, with sizes and types

Example

Create a script file with the following code

x=3
isinteger(x)
isfloat(x)
isvector(x)
isscalar(x)
isnumeric(x)

x = 23.54
isinteger(x)
isfloat(x)
isvector(x)
isscalar(x)
isnumeric(x)

x = [1 2 3]
isinteger(x)
isfloat(x)
isvector(x)
isscalar(x)

x = 'Hello'
isinteger(x)
isfloat(x)
isvector(x)
isscalar(x)
isnumeric(x)

When you run the file, it produces the following result

x=3
ans = 0
ans = 1
ans = 1
ans = 1
ans = 1
x = 1177/50
ans = 0
ans = 1
ans = 1
ans = 1
ans = 1
x=

1 2 3

ans = 0
ans = 1
ans = 1
ans = 0
x = Hello
ans = 0
ans = 0
ans = 1
ans = 0
ans = 0

An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific

mathematical or logical manipulations. MATLAB is designed to operate
primarily on whole matrices and arrays. Therefore, operators in MATLAB
work both on scalar and non-scalar data. MATLAB allows the following types
of elementary operations

Arithmetic Operators

Relational Operators

Logical Operators

Bitwise Operations
 Set Operations

Arithmetic Operators
MATLAB allows two different types of arithmetic operations

Matrix arithmetic operations

Array arithmetic operations

Matrix arithmetic operations are same as defined in linear algebra. Array

operations are executed element by element, both on one-dimensional and
multidimensional array.

The matrix operators and array operators are differentiated by the period
(.) symbol. However, as the addition and subtraction operation is same for
matrices and arrays, the operator is same for both cases. The following
table gives brief description of the operators

Show Examples

Operator Description

+ Addition or unary plus. A+B adds the values stored in

variables A and B. A and B must have the same size,
unless one is a scalar. A scalar can be added to a matrix
of any size.

- Subtraction or unary minus. A-B subtracts the value of

B from A. A and B must have the same size, unless one
is a scalar. A scalar can be subtracted from a matrix of
any size.

* Matrix multiplication. C = A*B is the linear algebraic

product of the matrices A and B. More precisely,
 For non-scalar A and B, the number of columns of A
must be equal to the number of rows of B. A scalar can
multiply a matrix of any size.

.* Array multiplication. A.*B is the element-by-element

product of the arrays A and B. A and B must have the
same size, unless one of them is a scalar.

/ Slash or matrix right division. B/A is roughly the same

as B*inv(A). More precisely, B/A = (A'\B')'.

./ Array right division. A./B is the matrix with elements

A(i,j)/B(i,j). A and B must have the same size, unless
one of them is a scalar.

\ Backslash or matrix left division. If A is a square matrix,

A\B is roughly the same as inv(A)*B, except it is
computed in a different way. If A is an n-by-n matrix
and B is a column vector with n components, or a
matrix with several such columns, then X = A\B is the
solution to the equation AX = B. A warning message is
displayed if A is badly scaled or nearly singular.

.\ Array left division. A.\B is the matrix with elements

B(i,j)/A(i,j). A and B must have the same size, unless
one of them is a scalar.

^ Matrix power. X^p is X to the power p, if p is a scalar. If

p is an integer, the power is computed by repeated
squaring. If the integer is negative, X is inverted first.
For other values of p, the calculation involves
eigenvalues and eigenvectors, such that if [V,D] =
eig(X), then X^p = V*D.^p/V.

.^ Array power. A.^B is the matrix with elements A(i,j) to

the B(i,j) power. A and B must have the same size,
unless one of them is a scalar.

' Matrix transpose. A' is the linear algebraic transpose of

A. For complex matrices, this is the complex conjugate
transpose.

.' Array transpose. A.' is the array transpose of A. For

complex matrices, this does not involve conjugation.

Relational Operators
Relational operators can also work on both scalar and non-scalar data.
Relational operators for arrays perform element-by-element comparisons
between two arrays and return a logical array of the same size, with
elements set to logical 1 (true) where the relation is true and elements set
to logical 0 (false) where it is not.

The following table shows the relational operators available in MATLAB:

Show Examples

Operator Description

< Less than

<= Less than or equal to

> Greater than

>= Greater than or equal to

== Equal to

~= Not equal to

Logical Operators
MATLAB offers two types of logical operators and functions:

Element-wise These operators operate on corresponding elements of logical

arrays.

Short-circuit These operators operate on scalar and, logical expressions.

Element-wise logical operators operate element-by-element on logical

arrays. The symbols &, |, and ~ are the logical array operators AND, OR,
and NOT.
Short-circuit logical operators allow short-circuiting on logical operations.
The symbols && and || are the logical short-circuit operators AND and OR.

Show Examples

Bitwise Operations
Bitwise operators work on bits and perform bit-by-bit operation. The truth
tables for &, |, and ^ are as follows

p q p&q p|q p^q

0 0 0 0 0

0 1 0 1 1

1 1 1 1 0

1 0 0 1 1

Assume if A = 60; and B = 13; Now in binary format they will be as follows:

A = 0011 1100

B = 0000 1101

-----------------

A&B = 0000 1100

A|B = 0011 1101

A^B = 0011 0001

~A = 1100 0011

MATLAB provides various functions for bit-wise operations like 'bitwise and',
'bitwise or' and 'bitwise not' operations, shift operation, etc.
The following table shows the commonly used bitwise operations:

Show Examples

Function Purpose

bitand(a, b) Bit-wise AND of integers a and b

bitcmp(a) Bit-wise complement of a

bitget(a,pos) Get bit at specified position pos, in the integer

array a

bitor(a, b) Bit-wise OR of integers a and b

bitset(a, pos) Set bit at specific location pos of a

bitshift(a, k) Returns a shifted to the left by k bits, equivalent

to multiplying by 2k. Negative values of k
correspond to shifting bits right or dividing by 2 |k|
and rounding to the nearest integer towards
negative infinite. Any overflow bits are truncated.

bitxor(a, b) Bit-wise XOR of integers a and b

swapbytes Swap byte ordering

Set Operations
MATLAB provides various functions for set operations, like union,
intersection and testing for set membership, etc.

The following table shows some commonly used set operations

Show Examples
Function Description

intersect(A,B) Set intersection of two arrays; returns the

values common to both A and B. The values
returned are in sorted order.

intersect(A,B,'rows') Treats each row of A and each row of B as

single entities and returns the rows common
to both A and B. The rows of the returned
matrix are in sorted order.

ismember(A,B) Returns an array the same size as A,

containing 1 (true) where the elements of A
are found in B. Elsewhere, it returns 0
(false).

ismember(A,B,'rows') Treats each row of A and each row of B as

single entities and returns a vector
containing 1 (true) where the rows of matrix
A are also rows of B. Elsewhere, it returns 0
(false).

issorted(A) Returns logical 1 (true) if the elements of A

are in sorted order and logical 0 (false)
otherwise. Input A can be a vector or an N-
by-1 or 1-by-N cell array of strings. A is
considered to be sorted if A and the
output of sort(A) are equal.

issorted(A, 'rows') Returns logical 1 (true) if the rows of two-

dimensional matrix A is in sorted order, and
logical 0 (false) otherwise. Matrix A is
considered to be sorted if A and the
output of sortrows(A) are equal.

setdiff(A,B) Sets difference of two arrays; returns the

values in A that are not in B. The values in
the returned array are in sorted order.
setdiff(A,B,'rows')
Treats each row of A and each row of B as
single entities and returns the rows from A
that are not in B. The rows of the returned
matrix are in sorted order.

The 'rows' option does not support cell

arrays.

setxor Sets exclusive OR of two arrays

Union Sets union of two arrays

unique Unique values in array

An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific

mathematical or logical manipulations. MATLAB is designed to operate
primarily on whole matrices and arrays. Therefore, operators in MATLAB
work both on scalar and non-scalar data. MATLAB allows the following types
of elementary operations

Arithmetic Operators

Relational Operators

Logical Operators

Bitwise Operations

Set Operations

Arithmetic Operators
MATLAB allows two different types of arithmetic operations

Matrix arithmetic operations

Array arithmetic operations

Matrix arithmetic operations are same as defined in linear algebra. Array
operations are executed element by element, both on one-dimensional and
multidimensional array.

The matrix operators and array operators are differentiated by the period
(.) symbol. However, as the addition and subtraction operation is same for
matrices and arrays, the operator is same for both cases. The following
table gives brief description of the operators

Show Examples

Operator Description

+ Addition or unary plus. A+B adds the values stored in

variables A and B. A and B must have the same size,
unless one is a scalar. A scalar can be added to a matrix
of any size.

- Subtraction or unary minus. A-B subtracts the value of

B from A. A and B must have the same size, unless one
is a scalar. A scalar can be subtracted from a matrix of
any size.

*
Matrix multiplication. C = A*B is the linear algebraic
product of the matrices A and B. More precisely,

For non-scalar A and B, the number of columns of A

must be equal to the number of rows of B. A scalar can
multiply a matrix of any size.

.* Array multiplication. A.*B is the element-by-element

product of the arrays A and B. A and B must have the
same size, unless one of them is a scalar.

/ Slash or matrix right division. B/A is roughly the same

as B*inv(A). More precisely, B/A = (A'\B')'.
./ Array right division. A./B is the matrix with elements
A(i,j)/B(i,j). A and B must have the same size, unless
one of them is a scalar.

\ Backslash or matrix left division. If A is a square matrix,

A\B is roughly the same as inv(A)*B, except it is
computed in a different way. If A is an n-by-n matrix
and B is a column vector with n components, or a
matrix with several such columns, then X = A\B is the
solution to the equation AX = B. A warning message is
displayed if A is badly scaled or nearly singular.

.\ Array left division. A.\B is the matrix with elements

B(i,j)/A(i,j). A and B must have the same size, unless
one of them is a scalar.

^ Matrix power. X^p is X to the power p, if p is a scalar. If

p is an integer, the power is computed by repeated
squaring. If the integer is negative, X is inverted first.
For other values of p, the calculation involves
eigenvalues and eigenvectors, such that if [V,D] =
eig(X), then X^p = V*D.^p/V.

.^ Array power. A.^B is the matrix with elements A(i,j) to

the B(i,j) power. A and B must have the same size,
unless one of them is a scalar.

' Matrix transpose. A' is the linear algebraic transpose of

A. For complex matrices, this is the complex conjugate
transpose.

.' Array transpose. A.' is the array transpose of A. For

complex matrices, this does not involve conjugation.

Relational Operators
Relational operators can also work on both scalar and non-scalar data.
Relational operators for arrays perform element-by-element comparisons
between two arrays and return a logical array of the same size, with
elements set to logical 1 (true) where the relation is true and elements set
to logical 0 (false) where it is not.

The following table shows the relational operators available in MATLAB:

Show Examples
Operator Description

< Less than

<= Less than or equal to

> Greater than

>= Greater than or equal to

== Equal to

~= Not equal to

Logical Operators
MATLAB offers two types of logical operators and functions:

Element-wise These operators operate on corresponding elements of logical

arrays.

Short-circuit These operators operate on scalar and, logical expressions.

Element-wise logical operators operate element-by-element on logical

arrays. The symbols &, |, and ~ are the logical array operators AND, OR,
and NOT.

Short-circuit logical operators allow short-circuiting on logical operations.

The symbols && and || are the logical short-circuit operators AND and OR.

Show Examples

Bitwise Operations
Bitwise operators work on bits and perform bit-by-bit operation. The truth
tables for &, |, and ^ are as follows
p q p&q p|q p^q

0 0 0 0 0

0 1 0 1 1

1 1 1 1 0

1 0 0 1 1

Assume if A = 60; and B = 13; Now in binary format they will be as follows:

A = 0011 1100

B = 0000 1101

-----------------

A&B = 0000 1100

A|B = 0011 1101

A^B = 0011 0001

~A = 1100 0011

MATLAB provides various functions for bit-wise operations like 'bitwise and',
'bitwise or' and 'bitwise not' operations, shift operation, etc.

The following table shows the commonly used bitwise operations:

Show Examples

Function Purpose

bitand(a, b) Bit-wise AND of integers a and b

bitcmp(a) Bit-wise complement of a

bitget(a,pos) Get bit at specified position pos, in the integer

array a

bitor(a, b) Bit-wise OR of integers a and b

bitset(a, pos) Set bit at specific location pos of a

bitshift(a, k) Returns a shifted to the left by k bits, equivalent

to multiplying by 2k. Negative values of k
correspond to shifting bits right or dividing by 2 |k|
and rounding to the nearest integer towards
negative infinite. Any overflow bits are truncated.

bitxor(a, b) Bit-wise XOR of integers a and b

swapbytes Swap byte ordering

Set Operations
MATLAB provides various functions for set operations, like union,
intersection and testing for set membership, etc.

The following table shows some commonly used set operations

Show Examples

Function Description

intersect(A,B) Set intersection of two arrays; returns the

values common to both A and B. The values
returned are in sorted order.

intersect(A,B,'rows') Treats each row of A and each row of B as

single entities and returns the rows common
to both A and B. The rows of the returned
 matrix are in sorted order.

ismember(A,B) Returns an array the same size as A,

containing 1 (true) where the elements of A
are found in B. Elsewhere, it returns 0
(false).

ismember(A,B,'rows') Treats each row of A and each row of B as

single entities and returns a vector
containing 1 (true) where the rows of matrix
A are also rows of B. Elsewhere, it returns 0
(false).

issorted(A) Returns logical 1 (true) if the elements of A

are in sorted order and logical 0 (false)
otherwise. Input A can be a vector or an N-
by-1 or 1-by-N cell array of strings. A is
considered to be sorted if A and the
output of sort(A) are equal.

issorted(A, 'rows') Returns logical 1 (true) if the rows of two-

dimensional matrix A is in sorted order, and
logical 0 (false) otherwise. Matrix A is
considered to be sorted if A and the
output of sortrows(A) are equal.

setdiff(A,B) Sets difference of two arrays; returns the

values in A that are not in B. The values in
the returned array are in sorted order.

setdiff(A,B,'rows')
Treats each row of A and each row of B as
single entities and returns the rows from A
that are not in B. The rows of the returned
matrix are in sorted order.

The 'rows' option does not support cell

arrays.

setxor Sets exclusive OR of two arrays

union Sets union of two arrays

unique Unique values in array

Decision making structures require that the programmer should specify one
or more conditions to be evaluated or tested by the program, along with a
statement or statements to be executed if the condition is determined to be
true, and optionally, other statements to be executed if the condition is
determined to be false.

Following is the general form of a typical decision making structure found in

most of the programming languages

MATLAB provides following types of decision making statements. Click the

following links to check their detail

Statement Description
 An if ... end statement consists
if ... end statement
of a boolean expression followed
by one or more statements.

An if statement can be followed

if...else...end statement
by an optional else statement,
which executes when the boolean
expression is false.

If... An if statement can be followed

by one (or more)
elseif...elseif...else...end optional elseif... and
statements an else statement, which is very
useful to test various conditions.

You can use

nested if statements
one if or elseif statement inside
another if or elseif statement(s).

A switch statement allows a

switch statement
variable to be tested for equality
against a list of values.

You can use

nested switch statements
one switch statement inside
another switch statement(s).

There may be a situation when you need to execute a block of code several
number of times. In general, statements are executed sequentially. The first
statement in a function is executed first, followed by the second, and so on.

Programming languages provide various control structures that allow for

more complicated execution paths.

A loop statement allows us to execute a statement or group of statements

multiple times and following is the general form of a loop statement in most
of the programming languages
MATLAB provides following types of loops to handle looping requirements.
Click the following links to check their detail

Loop Type Description

Repeats a statement or group of statements

while loop
while a given condition is true. It tests the
condition before executing the loop body.

Executes a sequence of statements multiple

for loop
times and abbreviates the code that manages
the loop variable.

You can use one or more loops inside any

nested loops
another loop.

Loop Control Statements

Loop control statements change execution from its normal sequence. When
execution leaves a scope, all automatic objects that were created in that
scope are destroyed.

MATLAB supports the following control statements. Click the following links
to check their detail.
Control Statement Description

Terminates the loop statement and

break statement
transfers execution to the statement
immediately following the loop.

Causes the loop to skip the remainder of its

continue
body and immediately retest its condition
statement prior to reiterating.

A vector is a one-dimensional array of numbers. MATLAB allows creating

two types of vectors

Row vectors

Column vectors

Row Vectors
Row vectors are created by enclosing the set of elements in square
brackets, using space or comma to delimit the elements.

r = [7 8 9 10 11]

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

r=

7 8 9 10 11

Column Vectors
Column vectors are created by enclosing the set of elements in square
brackets, using semicolon to delimit the elements.

c = [7; 8; 9; 10; 11]

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

c=
7
 8
9
10
11

Referencing the Elements of a Vector

You can reference one or more of the elements of a vector in several ways.
The ith component of a vector v is referred as v(i). For example

v = [ 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6]; % creating a column vector of 6 elements

v(3)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans = 3

When you reference a vector with a colon, such as v(:), all the components
of the vector are listed.

v = [ 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6]; % creating a column vector of 6 elements

v(:)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans =
1
2
3
4
5
6

MATLAB allows you to select a range of elements from a vector.

For example, let us create a row vector rv of 9 elements, then we will

reference the elements 3 to 7 by writing rv(3:7) and create a new vector
named sub_rv.

rv = [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9];
sub_rv = rv(3:7)
MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

sub_rv =

3 4 5 6 7

Vector Operations
In this section, let us discuss the following vector operations

Addition and Subtraction of Vectors

Scalar Multiplication of Vectors

Transpose of a Vector

Appending Vectors

Magnitude of a Vector

Vector Dot Product

Vectors with Uniformly Spaced Elements

A matrix is a two-dimensional array of numbers.

In MATLAB, you create a matrix by entering elements in each row as

comma or space delimited numbers and using semicolons to mark the end
of each row.

For example, let us create a 4-by-5 matrix a

a = [ 1 2 3 4 5; 2 3 4 5 6; 3 4 5 6 7; 4 5 6 7 8]

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

a=
1 2 3 4 5
2 3 4 5 6
3 4 5 6 7
4 5 6 7 8
Referencing the Elements of a Matrix
To reference an element in the mth row and nth column, of a matrix mx, we
write

mx(m, n);

For example, to refer to the element in the 2 nd row and 5thcolumn, of the
matrix a, as created in the last section, we type

a = [ 1 2 3 4 5; 2 3 4 5 6; 3 4 5 6 7; 4 5 6 7 8];
a(2,5)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans = 6

To reference all the elements in the mth column we type A(:,m).

Let us create a column vector v, from the elements of the 4 th row of the
matrix a:

a = [ 1 2 3 4 5; 2 3 4 5 6; 3 4 5 6 7; 4 5 6 7 8];
v = a(:,4)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

v=
4
5
6
7

You can also select the elements in the m th through nth columns, for this we
write

a(:,m:n)
Let us create a smaller matrix taking the elements from the second and
third columns

a = [ 1 2 3 4 5; 2 3 4 5 6; 3 4 5 6 7; 4 5 6 7 8];
a(:, 2:3)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans =
2 3
3 4
4 5
5 6

In the same way, you can create a sub-matrix taking a sub-part of a matrix.

a = [ 1 2 3 4 5; 2 3 4 5 6; 3 4 5 6 7; 4 5 6 7 8];
a(:, 2:3)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans =
2 3
3 4
4 5
5 6

In the same way, you can create a sub-matrix taking a sub-part of a matrix.

For example, let us create a sub-matrix sa taking the inner subpart of a:

3 4 5
4 5 6

To do this, write

a = [ 1 2 3 4 5; 2 3 4 5 6; 3 4 5 6 7; 4 5 6 7 8];
sa = a(2:3,2:4)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result
sa =
3 4 5
4 5 6

Deleting a Row or a Column in a Matrix

You can delete an entire row or column of a matrix by assigning an empty
set of square braces [] to that row or column. Basically, [] denotes an
empty array.

For example, let us delete the fourth row of a

a = [ 1 2 3 4 5; 2 3 4 5 6; 3 4 5 6 7; 4 5 6 7 8];
a( 4 , : ) = []

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

a=
1 2 3 4 5
2 3 4 5 6
3 4 5 6 7

Next, let us delete the fifth column of a

a = [ 1 2 3 4 5; 2 3 4 5 6; 3 4 5 6 7; 4 5 6 7 8];
a(: , 5)=[]

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

a=
1 2 3 4
2 3 4 5
3 4 5 6
4 5 6 7

Example

In this example, let us create a 3-by-3 matrix m, then we will copy the
second and third rows of this matrix twice to create a 4-by-3 matrix.

Create a script file with the following code

a = [ 1 2 3 ; 4 5 6; 7 8 9];
new_mat = a([2,3,2,3],:)

When you run the file, it displays the following result

new_mat =
4 5 6
7 8 9
4 5 6
7 8 9

Matrix Operations
In this section, let us discuss the following basic and commonly used matrix
operations

Addition and Subtraction of Matrices

Division of Matrices

Scalar Operations of Matrices

Transpose of a Matrix

Concatenating Matrices

Matrix Multiplication

Determinant of a Matrix

Inverse of a Matrix

All variables of all data types in MATLAB are multidimensional arrays. A

vector is a one-dimensional array and a matrix is a two-dimensional array.

We have already discussed vectors and matrices. In this chapter, we will

discuss multidimensional arrays. However, before that, let us discuss some
special types of arrays.
Special Arrays in MATLAB
In this section, we will discuss some functions that create some special
arrays. For all these functions, a single argument creates a square array,
double arguments create rectangular array.

The zeros() function creates an array of all zeros

For example

zeros(5)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans =
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0

The ones() function creates an array of all ones

For example

ones(4,3)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans =
1 1 1
1 1 1
1 1 1
1 1 1

The eye() function creates an identity matrix.

For example
eye(4)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans =
1 0 0 0
0 1 0 0
0 0 1 0
0 0 0 1

The rand() function creates an array of uniformly distributed random

numbers on (0,1)

For example

rand(3, 5)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans =
0.8147 0.9134 0.2785 0.9649 0.9572
0.9058 0.6324 0.5469 0.1576 0.4854
0.1270 0.0975 0.9575 0.9706 0.8003

A Magic Square
A magic square is a square that produces the same sum, when its
elements are added row-wise, column-wise or diagonally.

The magic() function creates a magic square array. It takes a singular

argument that gives the size of the square. The argument must be a scalar
greater than or equal to 3.

magic(4)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result
ans =
16 2 3 13
5 11 10 8
9 7 6 12
4 14 15 1

Multidimensional Arrays
An array having more than two dimensions is called a multidimensional
array in MATLAB. Multidimensional arrays in MATLAB are an extension of the
normal two-dimensional matrix.

Generally to generate a multidimensional array, we first create a two-

dimensional array and extend it.

For example, let's create a two-dimensional array a.

a = [7 9 5; 6 1 9; 4 3 2]

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

a=
7 9 5
6 1 9
4 3 2

The array a is a 3-by-3 array; we can add a third dimension to a, by

providing the values like

a(:, :, 2)= [ 1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9]

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

a=

ans(:,:,1) =

0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
ans(:,:,2) =

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

We can also create multidimensional arrays using the ones(), zeros() or the
rand() functions.

For example,

b = rand(4,3,2)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

b(:,:,1) =
0.0344 0.7952 0.6463
0.4387 0.1869 0.7094
0.3816 0.4898 0.7547
0.7655 0.4456 0.2760

b(:,:,2) =
0.6797 0.4984 0.2238
0.6551 0.9597 0.7513
0.1626 0.3404 0.2551
0.1190 0.5853 0.5060

We can also use the cat() function to build multidimensional arrays. It

concatenates a list of arrays along a specified dimension

Syntax for the cat() function is

B = cat(dim, A1, A2...)

Where,

B is the new array created

A1, A2, ... are the arrays to be concatenated

dim is the dimension along which to concatenate the arrays

Example

Create a script file and type the following code into it

a = [9 8 7; 6 5 4; 3 2 1];
b = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9];
c = cat(3, a, b, [ 2 3 1; 4 7 8; 3 9 0])

When you run the file, it displays

c(:,:,1) =
9 8 7
6 5 4
3 2 1
c(:,:,2) =
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
c(:,:,3) =
2 3 1
4 7 8
3 9 0

Array Functions
MATLAB provides the following functions to sort, rotate, permute, reshape,
or shift array contents.

Function Purpose

length Length of vector or largest array dimension

ndims Number of array dimensions

numel Number of array elements

size Array dimensions

iscolumn Determines whether input is column vector

isempty Determines whether array is empty

ismatrix Determines whether input is matrix

isrow Determines whether input is row vector

isscalar Determines whether input is scalar

isvector Determines whether input is vector

blkdiag Constructs block diagonal matrix from input

arguments

circshift Shifts array circularly

ctranspose Complex conjugate transpose

diag Diagonal matrices and diagonals of matrix

flipdim Flips array along specified dimension

fliplr Flips matrix from left to right

flipud Flips matrix up to down

ipermute Inverses permute dimensions of N-D array

permute Rearranges dimensions of N-D array

 repmat Replicates and tile array

reshape Reshapes array

rot90 Rotates matrix 90 degrees

shiftdim Shifts dimensions

issorted Determines whether set elements are in sorted

order

sort Sorts array elements in ascending or descending

order

sortrows Sorts rows in ascending order

squeeze Removes singleton dimensions

transpose Transpose

vectorize Vectorizes expression

Examples

The following examples illustrate some of the functions mentioned above.

Length, Dimension and Number of elements:

Create a script file and type the following code into it

x = [7.1, 3.4, 7.2, 28/4, 3.6, 17, 9.4, 8.9];

length(x) % length of x vector
y = rand(3, 4, 5, 2);
ndims(y) % no of dimensions in array y
s = ['Zara', 'Nuha', 'Shamim', 'Riz', 'Shadab'];
numel(s) % no of elements in s

When you run the file, it displays the following result

ans = 8
ans = 4
ans = 23

Circular Shifting of the Array Elements

Create a script file and type the following code into it

a = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9] % the original array a

b = circshift(a,1) % circular shift first dimension values down by 1.
c = circshift(a,[1 -1]) % circular shift first dimension values % down by 1
% and second dimension values to the left % by 1.

When you run the file, it displays the following result

a=
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

b=
7 8 9
1 2 3
4 5 6

c=
8 9 7
2 3 1
5 6 4

Sorting Arrays
Create a script file and type the following code into it

v = [ 23 45 12 9 5 0 19 17] % horizontal vector

sort(v) % sorting v
m = [2 6 4; 5 3 9; 2 0 1] % two dimensional array
sort(m, 1) % sorting m along the row
sort(m, 2) % sorting m along the column

When you run the file, it displays the following result

v=
23 45 12 9 5 0 19 17
ans =
0 5 9 12 17 19 23 45
m=
2 6 4
5 3 9
2 0 1
ans =
2 0 1
2 3 4
5 6 9
ans =
2 4 6
3 5 9
0 1 2

Cell Array
Cell arrays are arrays of indexed cells where each cell can store an array of
a different dimensions and data types.

The cell function is used for creating a cell array. Syntax for the cell
function is

C = cell(dim)
C = cell(dim1,...,dimN)
D = cell(obj)

Where,

C is the cell array;

dim is a scalar integer or vector of integers that specifies the dimensions of cell
array C;

dim1, ... , dimN are scalar integers that specify the dimensions of C;
 obj is One of the following:

o Java array or object

o .NET array of type [Link] or [Link]

Example

Create a script file and type the following code into it

c = cell(2, 5);
c = {'Red', 'Blue', 'Green', 'Yellow', 'White'; 1 2 3 4 5}

When you run the file, it displays the following result

c=
{
[1,1] = Red
[2,1] = 1
[1,2] = Blue
[2,2] = 2
[1,3] = Green
[2,3] = 3
[1,4] = Yellow
[2,4] = 4
[1,5] = White
[2,5] = 5
}

Accessing Data in Cell Arrays

There are two ways to refer to the elements of a cell array

Enclosing the indices in first bracket (), to refer to sets of cells

Enclosing the indices in braces {}, to refer to the data within individual cells

When you enclose the indices in first bracket, it refers to the set of cells.

Cell array indices in smooth parentheses refer to sets of cells.

For example:
c = {'Red', 'Blue', 'Green', 'Yellow', 'White'; 1 2 3 4 5};
c(1:2,1:2)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans =
{
[1,1] = Red
[2,1] = 1
[1,2] = Blue
[2,2] = 2
}

You can also access the contents of cells by indexing with curly braces.

For example

c = {'Red', 'Blue', 'Green', 'Yellow', 'White'; 1 2 3 4 5};

c{1, 2:4}

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans = Blue
ans = Green
ans = Yellow

The colon(:) is one of the most useful operator in MATLAB. It is used to

create vectors, subscript arrays, and specify for iterations.

If you want to create a row vector, containing integers from 1 to 10, you
write

1:10

MATLAB executes the statement and returns a row vector containing the
integers from 1 to 10

ans =

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

If you want to specify an increment value other than one, for example
100: -5: 50

MATLAB executes the statement and returns the following result

ans =
100 95 90 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 50

Let us take another example

0:pi/8:pi

MATLAB executes the statement and returns the following result

ans =
Columns 1 through 7
0 0.3927 0.7854 1.1781 1.5708 1.9635 2.3562
Columns 8 through 9
2.7489 3.1416

You can use the colon operator to create a vector of indices to select rows,
columns or elements of arrays.

The following table describes its use for this purpose (let us have a matrix
A)

Format Purpose

A(:,j) is the jth column of A.

A(i,:) is the ith row of A.

A(:,:) is the equivalent two-dimensional array. For matrices

this is the same as A.

A(j:k) is A(j), A(j+1),...,A(k).

A(:,j:k) is A(:,j), A(:,j+1),...,A(:,k).

 A(:,:,k) is the kth page of three-dimensional array A.

A(i,j,k,:) is a vector in four-dimensional array A. The vector

includes A(i,j,k,1), A(i,j,k,2), A(i,j,k,3), and so on.

A(:) is all the elements of A, regarded as a single column.

On the left side of an assignment statement, A(:) fills A,
preserving its shape from before. In this case, the right
side must contain the same number of elements as A.

Example
Create a script file and type the following code in it

A = [1 2 3 4; 4 5 6 7; 7 8 9 10]
A(:,2) % second column of A
A(:,2:3) % second and third column of A
A(2:3,2:3) % second and third rows and second and third columns

When you run the file, it displays the following result

A=
1 2 3 4
4 5 6 7
7 8 9 10

ans =
2
5
8

ans =
2 3
5 6
8 9

ans =
5 6
8 9

MATLAB supports various numeric classes that include signed and unsigned
integers and single-precision and double-precision floating-point numbers.
By default, MATLAB stores all numeric values as double-precision floating
point numbers.
You can choose to store any number or array of numbers as integers or as
single-precision numbers.

All numeric types support basic array operations and mathematical

operations.

Conversion to Various Numeric Data Types

MATLAB provides the following functions to convert to various numeric data
types

Function Purpose

double Converts to double precision number

single Converts to single precision number

int8 Converts to 8-bit signed integer

int16 Converts to 16-bit signed integer

int32 Converts to 32-bit signed integer

int64 Converts to 64-bit signed integer

uint8 Converts to 8-bit unsigned integer

uint16 Converts to 16-bit unsigned integer

uint32 Converts to 32-bit unsigned integer

uint64 Converts to 64-bit unsigned integer

Example

Create a script file and type the following code

x = single([5.32 3.47 6.28]) .* 7.5

x = double([5.32 3.47 6.28]) .* 7.5
x = int8([5.32 3.47 6.28]) .* 7.5
x = int16([5.32 3.47 6.28]) .* 7.5
x = int32([5.32 3.47 6.28]) .* 7.5
x = int64([5.32 3.47 6.28]) .* 7.5

When you run the file, it shows the following result

x=

39.900 26.025 47.100

x=

39.900 26.025 47.100

x=

38 23 45

x=

38 23 45

x=

38 23 45

x=

38 23 45

Example

Let us extend the previous example a little more. Create a script file and
type the following code

x = int32([5.32 3.47 6.28]) .* 7.5

x = int64([5.32 3.47 6.28]) .* 7.5
x = num2cell(x)
When you run the file, it shows the following result

x=

38 23 45

x=

38 23 45

x=
{
[1,1] = 38
[1,2] = 23
[1,3] = 45
}

Smallest and Largest Integers

The functions intmax() and intmin() return the maximum and minimum
values that can be represented with all types of integer numbers.

Both the functions take the integer data type as the argument, for example,
intmax(int8) or intmin(int64) and return the maximum and minimum values
that you can represent with the integer data type.

Example

The following example illustrates how to obtain the smallest and largest
values of integers. Create a script file and write the following code in it

% displaying the smallest and largest signed integer data

str = 'The range for int8 is:\n\t%d to %d ';
sprintf(str, intmin('int8'), intmax('int8'))
str = 'The range for int16 is:\n\t%d to %d ';
sprintf(str, intmin('int16'), intmax('int16'))
str = 'The range for int32 is:\n\t%d to %d ';
sprintf(str, intmin('int32'), intmax('int32'))
str = 'The range for int64 is:\n\t%d to %d ';
sprintf(str, intmin('int64'), intmax('int64'))
% displaying the smallest and largest unsigned integer data
str = 'The range for uint8 is:\n\t%d to %d ';
sprintf(str, intmin('uint8'), intmax('uint8'))
str = 'The range for uint16 is:\n\t%d to %d ';
sprintf(str, intmin('uint16'), intmax('uint16'))
str = 'The range for uint32 is:\n\t%d to %d ';
sprintf(str, intmin('uint32'), intmax('uint32'))
str = 'The range for uint64 is:\n\t%d to %d ';
sprintf(str, intmin('uint64'), intmax('uint64'))

When you run the file, it shows the following result

ans = The range for int8 is:

-128 to 127
ans = The range for int16 is:
-32768 to 32767
ans = The range for int32 is:
-2147483648 to 2147483647
ans = The range for int64 is:
0 to 0
ans = The range for uint8 is:
0 to 255
ans = The range for uint16 is:
0 to 65535
ans = The range for uint32 is:
0 to -1
ans = The range for uint64 is:
0 to 18446744073709551616

Smallest and Largest Floating Point Numbers

The functions realmax() and realmin() return the maximum and
minimum values that can be represented with floating point numbers.

Both the functions when called with the argument 'single', return the
maximum and minimum values that you can represent with the single-
precision data type and when called with the argument 'double', return the
maximum and minimum values that you can represent with the double-
precision data type.
Example

The following example illustrates how to obtain the smallest and largest
floating point numbers. Create a script file and write the following code in it

% displaying the smallest and largest single-precision

% floating point number
str = 'The range for single is:\n\t%g to %g and\n\t %g to %g';
sprintf(str, -realmax('single'), -realmin('single'), ...
realmin('single'), realmax('single'))
% displaying the smallest and largest double-precision
% floating point number
str = 'The range for double is:\n\t%g to %g and\n\t %g to %g';
sprintf(str, -realmax('double'), -realmin('double'), ...
realmin('double'), realmax('double'))

When you run the file, it displays the following result

ans = The range for single is:

-3.40282e+38 to -1.17549e-38 and
1.17549e-38 to 3.40282e+38
ans = The range for double is:
-1.79769e+308 to -2.22507e-308 and
2.22507e-308 to 1.79769e+308

Creating a character string is quite simple in MATLAB. In fact, we have used

it many times. For example, you type the following in the command prompt

my_string = 'Tutorials Point'

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

my_string = Tutorials Point

MATLAB considers all variables as arrays, and strings are considered as
character arrays. Let us use the whos command to check the variable
created above

whos

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

Name Size Bytes Class Attributes

my_string 1x16 32 char

Interestingly, you can use numeric conversion functions

like uint8 or uint16 to convert the characters in the string to their numeric
codes. The char function converts the integer vector back to characters

Example
Create a script file and type the following code into it

my_string = 'Tutorial''s Point';

str_ascii = uint8(my_string) % 8-bit ascii values
str_back_to_char= char(str_ascii)
str_16bit = uint16(my_string) % 16-bit ascii values
str_back_to_char = char(str_16bit)

When you run the file, it displays the following result

str_ascii =

84 117 116 111 114 105 97 108 39 115 32 80 111 105 110 116

str_back_to_char = Tutorial's Point

str_16bit =

84 117 116 111 114 105 97 108 39 115 32 80 111 105 110 116

str_back_to_char = Tutorial's Point

Rectangular Character Array

The strings we have discussed so far are one-dimensional character arrays;
however, we need to store more than that. We need to store more
dimensional textual data in our program. This is achieved by creating
rectangular character arrays.

Simplest way of creating a rectangular character array is by concatenating

two or more one-dimensional character arrays, either vertically or
horizontally as required.

You can combine strings vertically in either of the following ways

Using the MATLAB concatenation operator [] and separating each row with a
semicolon (;). Please note that in this method each row must contain the same
number of characters. For strings with different lengths, you should pad with
space characters as needed.

Using the char function. If the strings are of different lengths, char pads the
shorter strings with trailing blanks so that each row has the same number of
characters.

Example

Create a script file and type the following code into it

doc_profile = ['Zara Ali '; ...

'Sr. Surgeon '; ...
'R N Tagore Cardiology Research Center']
doc_profile = char('Zara Ali', 'Sr. Surgeon', ...
'RN Tagore Cardiology Research Center')

When you run the file, it displays the following result

doc_profile =
Zara Ali
Sr. Surgeon
R N Tagore Cardiology Research Center
doc_profile =
Zara Ali
Sr. Surgeon
RN Tagore Cardiology Research Center
You can combine strings horizontally in either of the following ways

Using the MATLAB concatenation operator, [] and separating the input strings
with a comma or a space. This method preserves any trailing spaces in the
input arrays.

Using the string concatenation function, strcat. This method removes trailing
spaces in the inputs.

Example

Create a script file and type the following code into it

name = 'Zara Ali ';

position = 'Sr. Surgeon ';
worksAt = 'R N Tagore Cardiology Research Center';
profile = [name ', ' position ', ' worksAt]
profile = strcat(name, ', ', position, ', ', worksAt)

When you run the file, it displays the following result

profile = Zara Ali , Sr. Surgeon , R N Tagore Cardiology Research

Center
profile = Zara Ali,Sr. Surgeon,R N Tagore Cardiology Research Center

Combining Strings into a Cell Array

From our previous discussion, it is clear that combining strings with
different lengths could be a pain as all strings in the array has to be of the
same length. We have used blank spaces at the end of strings to equalize
their length.

However, a more efficient way to combine the strings is to convert the

resulting array into a cell array.

MATLAB cell array can hold different sizes and types of data in an array. Cell
arrays provide a more flexible way to store strings of varying length.
The cellstr function converts a character array into a cell array of strings.

Example

Create a script file and type the following code into it

name = 'Zara Ali ';

position = 'Sr. Surgeon ';
worksAt = 'R N Tagore Cardiology Research Center';
profile = char(name, position, worksAt);
profile = cellstr(profile);
disp(profile)

When you run the file, it displays the following result

{
[1,1] = Zara Ali
[2,1] = Sr. Surgeon
[3,1] = R N Tagore Cardiology Research Center
}

String Functions in MATLAB

MATLAB provides numerous string functions creating, combining, parsing,
comparing and manipulating strings.

Following table provides brief description of the string functions in MATLAB

Function Purpose

Functions for storing text in character arrays, combine

character arrays, etc.

blanks Create string of blank characters

cellstr Create cell array of strings from character

 array

char Convert to character array (string)

iscellstr Determine whether input is cell array of

strings

ischar Determine whether item is character array

sprintf Format data into string

strcat Concatenate strings horizontally

strjoin Join strings in cell array into single string

Functions for identifying parts of strings, find and replace

substrings

ischar Determine whether item is character array

isletter Array elements that are alphabetic letters

isspace Array elements that are space characters

isstrprop Determine whether string is of specified

category

sscanf Read formatted data from string

strfind Find one string within another

strrep Find and replace substring

strsplit Split string at specified delimiter

strtok Selected parts of string

validatestring Check validity of text string

symvar Determine symbolic variables in expression

regexp Match regular expression (case sensitive)

regexpi Match regular expression (case insensitive)

regexprep Replace string using regular expression

regexptranslate Translate string into regular expression

Functions for string comparison

strcmp Compare strings (case sensitive)

strcmpi Compare strings (case insensitive)

strncmp Compare first n characters of strings (case

sensitive)

strncmpi Compare first n characters of strings (case

insensitive)

Functions for changing string to upper- or lowercase,

 creating or removing white space

deblank Strip trailing blanks from end of string

strtrim Remove leading and trailing white space

from string

lower Convert string to lowercase

upper Convert string to uppercase

strjust Justify character array

Examples

The following examples illustrate some of the above-mentioned string

functions

FORMATTING STRINGS

Create a script file and type the following code into it

A = pi*1000*ones(1,5);
sprintf(' %f \n %.2f \n %+.2f \n %12.2f \n %012.2f \n', A)

When you run the file, it displays the following result

ans = 3141.592654
3141.59
+3141.59
3141.59
000003141.59

JOINING STRINGS

Create a script file and type the following code into it

%cell array of strings

str_array = {'red','blue','green', 'yellow', 'orange'};

% Join strings in cell array into single string

str1 = strjoin(str_array, "-")
str2 = strjoin(str_array, ",")

When you run the file, it displays the following result

str1 = red-blue-green-yellow-orange
str2 = red,blue,green,yellow,orange

FINDING AND REPLACING STRINGS

Create a script file and type the following code into it

students = {'Zara Ali', 'Neha Bhatnagar', ...

'Monica Malik', 'Madhu Gautam', ...
'Madhu Sharma', 'Bhawna Sharma',...
'Nuha Ali', 'Reva Dutta', ...
'Sunaina Ali', 'Sofia Kabir'};

% The strrep function searches and replaces sub-string.

new_student = strrep(students(8), 'Reva', 'Poulomi')
% Display first names
first_names = strtok(students)

When you run the file, it displays the following result

new_student =
{
[1,1] = Poulomi Dutta
}
first_names =
{
[1,1] = Zara
[1,2] = Neha
[1,3] = Monica
[1,4] = Madhu
[1,5] = Madhu
[1,6] = Bhawna
[1,7] = Nuha
[1,8] = Reva
 [1,9] = Sunaina
[1,10] = Sofia
}

COMPARING STRINGS

Create a script file and type the following code into it

str1 = 'This is test'

str2 = 'This is text'
if (strcmp(str1, str2))
sprintf('%s and %s are equal', str1, str2)
else
sprintf('%s and %s are not equal', str1, str2)
end

When you run the file, it displays the following result

str1 = This is test

str2 = This is text
ans = This is test and This is text are not equal

A function is a group of statements that together perform a task. In

MATLAB, functions are defined in separate files. The name of the file and of
the function should be the same.

Functions operate on variables within their own workspace, which is also

called the local workspace, separate from the workspace you access at
the MATLAB command prompt which is called the base workspace.

Functions can accept more than one input arguments and may return more
than one output arguments.

Syntax of a function statement is

function [out1,out2, ..., outN] = myfun(in1,in2,in3, ..., inN)

Example
The following function named mymax should be written in a file
named mymax.m. It takes five numbers as argument and returns the
maximum of the numbers.

Create a function file, named mymax.m and type the following code in it

function max = mymax(n1, n2, n3, n4, n5)

%This function calculates the maximum of the
% five numbers given as input
max = n1;
if(n2 > max)
max = n2;
end
if(n3 > max)
max = n3;
end
if(n4 > max)
max = n4;
end
if(n5 > max)
max = n5;
end

The first line of a function starts with the keyword function. It gives the
name of the function and order of arguments. In our example,
the mymax function has five input arguments and one output argument.

The comment lines that come right after the function statement provide the
help text. These lines are printed when you type

help mymax

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

This function calculates the maximum of the

five numbers given as input
You can call the function as

mymax(34, 78, 89, 23, 11)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans = 89

Anonymous Functions
An anonymous function is like an inline function in traditional programming
languages, defined within a single MATLAB statement. It consists of a single
MATLAB expression and any number of input and output arguments.

You can define an anonymous function right at the MATLAB command line
or within a function or script.

This way you can create simple functions without having to create a file for
them.

The syntax for creating an anonymous function from an expression is

f = @(arglist)expression

Example

In this example, we will write an anonymous function named power, which

will take two numbers as input and return first number raised to the power
of the second number.

Create a script file and type the following code in it

power = @(x, n) x.^n;

result1 = power(7, 3)
result2 = power(49, 0.5)
result3 = power(10, -10)
result4 = power (4.5, 1.5)
When you run the file, it displays

result1 = 343
result2 = 7
result3 = 1.0000e-10
result4 = 9.5459

Primary and Sub-Functions

Any function other than an anonymous function must be defined within a
file. Each function file contains a required primary function that appears first
and any number of optional sub-functions that comes after the primary
function and used by it.

Primary functions can be called from outside of the file that defines them,
either from command line or from other functions, but sub-functions cannot
be called from command line or other functions, outside the function file.

Sub-functions are visible only to the primary function and other sub-
functions within the function file that defines them.

Example

Let us write a function named quadratic that would calculate the roots of a
quadratic equation. The function would take three inputs, the quadratic co-
efficient, the linear co-efficient and the constant term. It would return the
roots.

The function file quadratic.m will contain the primary function quadratic and
the sub-function disc, which calculates the discriminant.

Create a function file quadratic.m and type the following code in it

function [x1,x2] = quadratic(a,b,c)

%this function returns the roots of
% a quadratic equation.
% It takes 3 input arguments
% which are the co-efficients of x2, x and the
%constant term
% It returns the roots
d = disc(a,b,c);
x1 = (-b + d) / (2*a);
x2 = (-b - d) / (2*a);
end % end of quadratic

function dis = disc(a,b,c)

%function calculates the discriminant
dis = sqrt(b^2 - 4*a*c);
end % end of sub-function

You can call the above function from command prompt as

quadratic(2,4,-4)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans = 0.7321

Nested Functions
You can define functions within the body of another function. These are
called nested functions. A nested function contains any or all of the
components of any other function.

Nested functions are defined within the scope of another function and they
share access to the containing function's workspace.

A nested function follows the following syntax

function x = A(p1, p2)

...
B(p2)
 function y = B(p3)
...
end
...
end

Example

Let us rewrite the function quadratic, from previous example, however, this
time the disc function will be a nested function.

Create a function file quadratic2.m and type the following code in it

function [x1,x2] = quadratic2(a,b,c)

function disc % nested function
d = sqrt(b^2 - 4*a*c);
end % end of function disc
disc;
x1 = (-b + d) / (2*a);
x2 = (-b - d) / (2*a);
end % end of function quadratic2

You can call the above function from command prompt as

quadratic2(2,4,-4)

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans = 0.73205

Private Functions
A private function is a primary function that is visible only to a limited group
of other functions. If you do not want to expose the implementation of a
function(s), you can create them as private functions.
Private functions reside in subfolders with the special name private.

They are visible only to functions in the parent folder.

Example

Let us rewrite the quadratic function. This time, however, the disc function
calculating the discriminant, will be a private function.

Create a subfolder named private in working directory. Store the following

function file disc.m in it

function dis = disc(a,b,c)

%function calculates the discriminant
dis = sqrt(b^2 - 4*a*c);
end % end of sub-function

Create a function quadratic3.m in your working directory and type the

following code in it

function [x1,x2] = quadratic3(a,b,c)

%this function returns the roots of
% a quadratic equation.
% It takes 3 input arguments
% which are the co-efficient of x2, x and the
%constant term
% It returns the roots
d = disc(a,b,c);
x1 = (-b + d) / (2*a);
x2 = (-b - d) / (2*a);
end % end of quadratic3

You can call the above function from command prompt as

quadratic3(2,4,-4)
MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result

ans = 0.73205

Global Variables
Global variables can be shared by more than one function. For this, you
need to declare the variable as global in all the functions.

If you want to access that variable from the base workspace, then declare
the variable at the command line.

The global declaration must occur before the variable is actually used in a
function. It is a good practice to use capital letters for the names of global
variables to distinguish them from other variables.

Example

Let us create a function file named average.m and type the following code
in it

function avg = average(nums)

global TOTAL
avg = sum(nums)/TOTAL;
end

Create a script file and type the following code in it

global TOTAL;
TOTAL = 10;
n = [34, 45, 25, 45, 33, 19, 40, 34, 38, 42];
av = average(n)

When you run the file, it will display the following result

av = 35.500