MATLAB

MATLAB

i
 MATLAB

Table of Contents
About the Tutorial ···································································································································· i

Audience ·················································································································································· i

Prerequisites ············································································································································ i

Copyright & Disclaimer Notice ················································································································· i

Table of Contents ···································································································································· ii

1. OVERVIEW ······························································································································· 1

MATLAB's Power of Computational Mathematics ··················································································· 1

Features of MATLAB ································································································································ 1

Uses of MATLAB ······································································································································ 2

2. ENVIRONMENT ························································································································ 3

Local Environment Setup ························································································································· 3

Understanding the MATLAB Environment ······························································································· 4

3. BASIC SYNTAX ·························································································································· 7

Hands on Practice···································································································································· 7

Use of Semicolon (;) in MATLAB ·············································································································· 8

Adding Comments ··································································································································· 8

Commonly used Operators and Special Characters ················································································· 9

Special Variables and Constants ············································································································ 10

Naming Variables ·································································································································· 11

Saving Your Work ·································································································································· 11

4. VARIABLES······························································································································ 12

Multiple Assignments···························································································································· 13

I have forgotten the Variables! ·············································································································· 13

Long Assignments·································································································································· 14
ii
 MATLAB
The format Command ··························································································································· 15

Creating Vectors ···································································································································· 17

Creating Matrices ·································································································································· 18

5. COMMANDS ·························································································································· 20

Commands for Managing a Session ······································································································· 20

Commands for Working with the System ······························································································ 20

Input and Output Commands ················································································································ 22

Vector, Matrix, and Array Commands ··································································································· 23

Plotting Commands ······························································································································· 25

6. M-FILES ·································································································································· 27

The M Files ············································································································································ 27

Creating and Running Script File ············································································································ 27

7. DATA TYPES···························································································································· 30

Data Types Available in MATLAB ··········································································································· 30

Data Type Conversion ··························································································································· 32

Determination of Data Types ················································································································ 34

8. OPERATORS ··························································································································· 39

Arithmetic Operators ···························································································································· 39

Functions for Arithmetic Operations ····································································································· 42

Relational Operators ····························································································································· 46

Logical Operators ·································································································································· 49

Functions for Logical Operations ··········································································································· 50

Bitwise Operations ································································································································ 55

Set Operations ······································································································································ 57

9. DECISION MAKING················································································································· 60

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 MATLAB
if... end Statement ································································································································ 61

if...else...end Statement ························································································································ 63

if...elseif...elseif...else...end Statements································································································ 64

The Nested if Statements ······················································································································ 66

The switch Statement ··························································································································· 67

The Nested Switch Statements ·············································································································· 69

10. LOOP TYPES···························································································································· 71

The while Loop ······································································································································ 72

The for Loop ·········································································································································· 73

The Nested Loops ·································································································································· 76

Loop Control Statements······················································································································· 78

The break Statement ····························································································································· 79

The continue Statement ························································································································ 80

11. VECTORS ································································································································ 83

Row Vectors ·········································································································································· 83

Column Vectors ····································································································································· 83

Referencing the Elements of a Vector ··································································································· 84

Vector Operations ································································································································· 85

Addition and Subtraction of Vectors ····································································································· 85

Scalar Multiplication of Vectors ············································································································ 86

Transpose of a Vector···························································································································· 86

Appending Vectors ································································································································ 87

Magnitude of a Vector ·························································································································· 89

Vector Dot Product ······························································································································· 90

Vectors with Uniformly Spaced Elements ······························································································ 90

12. MATRIX ·································································································································· 92

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 MATLAB
Referencing the Elements of a Matrix ··································································································· 92

Deleting a Row or a Column in a Matrix ································································································ 94

Matrix Operations ································································································································· 96

Addition and Subtraction of Matrices ··································································································· 96

Division (Left, Right) of Matrix ·············································································································· 97

Scalar Operations of Matrices ··············································································································· 98

Transpose of a Matrix ··························································································································· 99

Concatenating Matrices ························································································································ 99

Matrix Multiplication ·························································································································· 101

Determinant of a Matrix ····················································································································· 102

Inverse of a Matrix ······························································································································ 102

13. ARRAYS ································································································································· 104

Special Arrays in MATLAB ··················································································································· 104

A Magic Square ··································································································································· 106

Multidimensional Arrays ····················································································································· 106

Array Functions ··································································································································· 109

Sorting Arrays ····································································································································· 112

Cell Array ············································································································································ 113

Accessing Data in Cell Arrays ··············································································································· 114

14. COLON NOTATION··············································································································· 116

15. NUMBERS ···························································································································· 119

Conversion to Various Numeric Data Types························································································· 119

Smallest and Largest Integers ·············································································································· 121

Smallest and Largest Floating Point Numbers ····················································································· 123

16. STRINGS ······························································································································· 125

Rectangular Character Array ··············································································································· 126

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Combining Strings into a Cell Array ····································································································· 128

String Functions in MATLAB ················································································································ 129

17. FUNCTIONS ·························································································································· 134

Anonymous Functions ························································································································· 135

Nested Functions ································································································································ 138

Private Functions ································································································································ 139

Global Variables ·································································································································· 140

18. DATA IMPORT ······················································································································ 142

Low-Level File I/O································································································································ 146

Import Text Data Files with Low-Level I/O ·························································································· 147

19. DATA OUTPUT ····················································································································· 152

Writing to Diary Files ··························································································································· 154

Exporting Data to Text Data Files with Low-Level I/O ·········································································· 154

20. PLOTTING ····························································································································· 156

Adding Title, Labels, Grid Lines, and Scaling on the Graph ··································································· 158

Drawing Multiple Functions on the Same Graph ················································································· 159

Setting Colors on Graph ······················································································································ 160

Setting Axis Scales ······························································································································· 161

Generating Sub-Plots··························································································································· 162

21. GRAPHICS ····························································································································· 164

Drawing Bar Charts ····························································································································· 164

Drawing Contours ······························································································································· 165

Three-Dimensional Plots ····················································································································· 167

22. ALGEBRA ······························································································································ 169

Solving Basic Algebraic Equations in MATLAB ····················································································· 169

vi
 MATLAB
Solving Quadratic Equations in MATLAB ····························································································· 171

Expanding and Collecting Equations in MATLAB ·················································································· 176

Expanding and Collecting Equations in Octave ···················································································· 177

Factorization and Simplification of Algebraic Expressions ··································································· 179

23. CALCULUS ···························································································································· 181

Calculating Limits ································································································································ 181

Verification of Basic Properties of Limits using Octave ········································································ 184

Left and Right Sided Limits ·················································································································· 185

24. DIFFERENTIAL ······················································································································ 188

Verification of Elementary Rules of Differentiation ············································································· 189

Derivatives of Exponential, Logarithmic, and Trigonometric Functions ··············································· 193

Computing Higher Order Derivatives ··································································································· 198

Finding the Maxima and Minima of a Curve ························································································ 200

Solving Differential Equations ············································································································· 204

25. INTEGRATION ······················································································································ 206

Finding Indefinite Integral Using MATLAB ··························································································· 206

Finding Definite Integral Using MATLAB ······························································································ 210

26. POLYNOMIALS ····················································································································· 216

Evaluating Polynomials ······················································································································· 216

Polynomial Curve Fitting ····················································································································· 217

27. TRANSFORMS ······················································································································ 219

The Laplace Transform ························································································································ 219

The Inverse Laplace Transform ············································································································ 220

The Fourier Transforms ······················································································································· 222

Inverse Fourier Transforms ················································································································· 224

vii
 MATLAB
28. GNU OCTAVE TUTORIAL ······································································································ 225

MATLAB vs Octave ······························································································································ 225

29. SIMULINK ····························································································································· 229

Using Simulink····································································································································· 230

viii
 1. OVERVIEW MATLAB

MATLAB (matrix laboratory) is a fourth-generation high-level programming language

and interactive environment for numerical computation, visualization and
programming.

MATLAB is developed by MathWorks.

It allows matrix manipulations; plotting of functions and data; implementation of

algorithms; creation of user interfaces; interfacing with programs written in other
languages, including C, C++, Java, and FORTRAN; analyze data; develop algorithms;
and create models and applications.

It has numerous built-in commands and math functions that help you in mathematical
calculations, generating plots, and performing numerical methods.

MATLAB's Power of Computational Mathematics

MATLAB is used in every facet of computational mathematics. Following are some
commonly used mathematical calculations where it is used most commonly:

 Dealing with Matrices and Arrays

 2-D and 3-D Plotting and graphics
 Linear Algebra
 Algebraic Equations
 Non-linear Functions
 Statistics
 Data Analysis
 Calculus and Differential Equations
 Numerical Calculations
 Integration
 Transforms
 Curve Fitting
 Various other special functions

9
 MATLAB

Features of MATLAB
Following are the basic features of MATLAB:

 It is a high-level language for numerical computation, visualization and

application development.
 It also provides an interactive environment for iterative exploration, design
and problem solving.
 It provides vast library of mathematical functions for linear algebra, statistics,
Fourier analysis, filtering, optimization, numerical integration and solving
ordinary differential equations.
 It provides built-in graphics for visualizing data and tools for creating custom
plots.
 MATLAB's programming interface gives development tools for improving code
quality, maintainability, and maximizing performance.
 It provides tools for building applications with custom graphical interfaces.
 It provides functions for integrating MATLAB based algorithms with external
applications and languages such as C, Java, .NET and Microsoft Excel.

Uses of MATLAB
MATLAB is widely used as a computational tool in science and engineering
encompassing the fields of physics, chemistry, math and all engineering streams. It
is used in a range of applications including:

 signal processing and Communications

 image and video Processing
 control systems
 test and measurement
 computational finance
 computational biology

10
 2. ENVIRONMENT MATLAB

Local Environment Setup

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

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.

11
 MATLAB

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:

12
 MATLAB

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.

13
 MATLAB

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

Set up GNU Octave

If you are willing to use Octave on your machine (Linux, BSD, OS X or Windows),
then kindly download latest version from
[Link] You can check the given installation
instructions for your machine

14
 3. BASIC SYNTAX MATLAB

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:

15
 MATLAB

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 π, 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:

16
 MATLAB

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.

17
 MATLAB

.\ 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.

._ Non-conjugated transpose operator.

= Assignment operator.

Special Variables and Constants

MATLAB supports the following special variables and constants:

18
 MATLAB

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 π

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

19
 4. VARIABLES MATLAB

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 =

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 =

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:

20
 MATLAB

ans =

8.8318

You can use this variable ans:

9876/ans

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result:

ans =

1.1182e+03

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 =

441.8400

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

21
 MATLAB

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 x y

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:

Name Size Bytes Class Attributes

a 1x1 8 double

ans 1x1 8 double

b 1x1 8 double

c 1x1 8 double

x 1x1 8 double

y 1x1 8 double

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

22
 MATLAB

% 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 =

17.231981640639408

23
 MATLAB

Another example,

format short

x = 7 + 10/3 + 5 ^ 1.2

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result:

x =

17.2320

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

24
 MATLAB

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 =

2063/90

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]

25
 MATLAB

MATLAB will execute the above statement and return the following result:

r =

Columns 1 through 4

7 8 9 10

Column 5

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 =

Columns 1 through 4

9 11 13 15

Column 5

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 =

26
 MATLAB

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

27
 5. COMMANDS MATLAB

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).

28
 MATLAB

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.

29
 MATLAB

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.

30
 MATLAB

%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 Function Display up to

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 compact Suppresses some line feeds.

format loose Resets to less compact display mode.

31
 MATLAB

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.

32
 MATLAB

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:

33
 MATLAB

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.

34
 MATLAB

set Specifies properties of objects such as axes.

subplot Creates plots in sub windows.

text Places string in figure.

bar Creates bar chart.

loglog Creates log-log plot.

polar Creates polar plot.

semilogx Creates semi log plot. (logarithmic abscissa).

semilogy Creates semi log plot. (logarithmic ordinate).

stairs Creates stairs plot.

stem Creates stem plot.

35
 6. M-FILES MATLAB

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 .m files. 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

36
 MATLAB

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;

TeachingStaff = 150;

NonTeachingStaff = 20;

37
 MATLAB

Total = NoOfStudents + TeachingStaff ...

+ NonTeachingStaff;

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 =

12.6570

e =

63.2849

f =

38
 MATLAB

3.1852e-06

39
 7. MATLAB

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

40
 MATLAB

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)

41
 MATLAB

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 =

5.6789e+03

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

42
 MATLAB

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

43
 MATLAB

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

44
 MATLAB

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)
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 MATLAB

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]

46