MATLAB

INTRODUCTION TO
MATLAB
 What is MATLAB?
 MATLAB (MATrix LABoratory) is a special-purpose
computer program optimized to perform engineering
and scientific calculations.
 It is a high-performance language for technical
computing.
 It integrates computation, visualization, and
programming in an easy-to-use environment
 Typical uses include:
 Math and computation
 Algorithm development
 Modelling, simulation and prototyping
 Data analysis, exploration and visualization
 Scientific and engineering graphics
 Application development, including Graphical User
Interface (GUI) building
 What is MATLAB?

 MATLAB is an interactive system

whose basic data element is an array
that does not require dimensioning.
 This allows the capabilities to solve
many technical computing problems.
 Especially those with matrix and vector
formulations.
 MATLAB features
 family of application-specific solution called
Toolboxes.
 Toolboxes are comprehensive collections of
MATLAB function (m-files) that extend the MATLAB
environment to solve particular classes of problems.
 Areas in which toolboxes are available:
 signal processing
 control systems
 neural networks
 fuzzy logic
 Wavelets
 image processing
 simulation and many others.
MATLAB

Getting Started
 Starting MATLAB

 Double-clicking on the MATLAB icon or

invoking the application from the Start
menu of Windows.

MATLAB 7.0.1.lnk
Starting MATLAB
 The Command Window

 The Command Window is where the command line prompt for

interactive commands is located.
 The “>>” is called the Command Prompt
 Example
 Write a simple MATLAB command,
which is the date command.
 MATLAB should then return something
like this:
>> date

ans =

22-Sep-2007
MATLAB

MATLAB Basics
 Variables and Arrays

 The fundamental unit of data in any

MATLAB program is the array.
 Even scalars are treated as arrays by
MATLAB
 There are three fundamental concepts
in MATLAB, and in linear algebra
-scalars, vectors and matrices.
 Variables and Arrays
 A scalar = a single value.
 A vector = an ordered list of numbers (one-
dimensional). In MATLAB they can be
represented as a row-vector or a column-
vector.
 A matrix = a rectangular array of numbers
(multi-dimensional). In MATLAB, a two-
dimensional matrix is defined by its number
of rows and columns.
 Example

a  10 This is a scalar, containing 1 element

b  1 2 3 4
This is a 14 array containing 4 elements,
known as a row vector

1 
This is a 31 array containing 3 elements, known
c  2 as a column vector
3

 1 2 3
This is a 33 matrix, containing 9
d  4 5 6 elements
7 8 9
More example
>> my_scalar = 3.1415 >> my_vector1 = [1 5 7]

my_scalar = my_vector1 =

3.1415 1 5 7

>> my_vector1 = [1, 5, 7]

my_vector1 = >> my_vector2 = [1

5
1 5 7 7]

>> my_vector2 = [1; 5; 7] my_vector2 =

my_vector2 = 1
5
1 7
5
7

>> my_matrix = [8 12 19; 7 3 2; 12 4 23; 8 1 1]

my_matrix =

8 12 19
7 3 2
12 4 23
8 1 1
examples
 A semicolon (;) is used to hide the
details of any operation in the
command window
 E.g
 >> x =2 ;
 >>y = 3;
 >> c = x + y
 >> c =
 5
 Indexing into an Array
A 2-by-3 Matrix
Row 1

Row 2

Col 1 Col 2 Col 3

 Individual elements in an array are addressed by the array name

followed by the row and column of the particular element.
 If the array is a row or >> my_vector2 = [1; 5; 7]
column vector, then only one
subscript is required. my_vector2 =
 For example, 1
 my_vector2(2) is 5 5
7

 my_matrix(3,2) is 4 or

 my_matrix(7) is 4
 The Colon Operator
 The colon (:) is one of MATLAB’s most important operators.
 To create an incremental or a decrement vector

>> my_inc_vec1 = [1:7]

my_inc_vec1 =
>> my_dec_vec = [5:-2:1]
[ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7]
my_dec_vec =

[ 5 3 1]
>> my_inc_vec2 = [1:2:7]

my_inc_vec2 =

[ 1 3 5 7]
 The Colon Operator

To refer portions of a matrix/vector.
>> my_matrix = [8 12 19; 7 3 2; 12 4 23; 8 1 1]

my_matrix =

8 12 19
7 3 2
12 4 23
8 1 1

>> new_matrix1 = my_matrix(1:3,2:3)

new_matrix1 =

12 19
3 2
4 23

>> new_matrix2 = my_matrix(2:4,:)

new_matrix2 =  NOTES: If the colon is used by itself

7 3 2 within subscript, it refers to all the
12 4 23 elements in a row or column of a matrix!
8 1 1
 Concatenating Matrices
>> A = [8 19; 7 2];
>> B = [1 64; 4 5; 3 78];
>> C = [A; B]

C =

8 19
7 2
1 64
4 5
3 78
 Matrix concatenation is the process of joining one or
more matrices to make a new matrix.
 The expression C = [A B] horizontally concatenates
matrices A and B. The expression C = [A; B]
vertically concatenates them.
 Reshaping a Matrix
 Reshape 3-by-4 matrix A to have dimensions 2-by-6.

>> A = [1 4 7 10; 2 5 8 11; 3 6 9

12]

A =

1 4 7 10
2 5 8 11
3 6 9 12

>> B = reshape(A, 2, 6)

B =

1 3 5 7 9 11
2 4 6 8 10 12
General Function for Matrix
and Vector
 Basic Vector Function

size Returns the dimensions of a matrix

length Returns the number of elements in a matrix

min Returns the minimum value contained in a matrix

max Returns the maximum value contained in a matrix

sum Returns the sum of the elements in a matrix

sort Returns the sorted elements in a matrix

abs Returns the absolute value of the elements in a matrix

 Examples

>> A = [3 1 2 4]; >> mnA = min(A) >> sumA = sum(A)

>> szA = size(A)
mnA = sumA =
szA =
1 10
14 >> mxA = max(A)
>> stA = sort(A)
>> lenA = length(A) mxA =
stA =
lenA = 4
1 2 3 4
4
 Functions to Create a Matrix
diag Create a diagonal matrix from a vector

cat Concatenate matrices along the specified dimension

ones Create a matrix of all ones

zeros Create a matrix of all zeros

rand Create a matrix of uniformly distributed random numbers

repmat Create a new matrix by replicating or tiling another

 Examples
>> A = zeros(2,4) >> C = rand(4,3)

A = C =

0 0 0 0 0.9501 0.8913 0.8214

0 0 0 0 0.2311 0.7621 0.4447
0.6068 0.4565 0.6154
>> B = 7*ones(1,3) 0.4860 0.0185 0.7919

B =

7 7 7
 Arithmetic Operations

 MATLAB can be used to evaluate

simple and complex mathematical
expressions.
 Can perform some operations either
on an element-by-element (array
operation) or
 matrices as whole entities (matrix
operation).
 Array Operators
Operation MATLAB Form Comments
Addition A + B Array addition is identical
Subtraction A - B Array subtraction is identical
Multiplicati A .* B Element-by-element multiplication of A
on and B. Both arrays must be the same
shape, or one of them must be a scalar

Division A ./ B Element-by-element division of A and B.

Both arrays must be the same shape, or
one of them must be a scalar

Power A .^ B Element-by-element exponentiation of A

and B. Both arrays must be the same
shape, or one of them must be a scalar
 Examples
>> A = [1 4 7 10; 2 5 8 11; 3 6 9 12] >> A = [ 2 4 ; 8 10]
A =
A =

1 4 7 10 2 4
2 5 8 11 8 10
3 6 9 12
>> B = [2 4; 2 5]
>> B = [1 2 3 4; 5 6 7 8; 9 10 11 12] B =
B =
2 4
1 2 3 4 2 5
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 >> C = A./B
C =
>> C = A.*B

C = 1 1
4 2
1 8 21 40
10 30 56 88
27 60 99 144
 Matrix Operators
Operation MATLAB Comments
Form
Addition A + B Array addition is identical

Subtraction A - B Array subtraction is identical

Multiplication A * B Matrix multiplication of A and B. The number of

columns in A must equal the number of rows in B.
Division A / B Matrix division defined by A * inv(B), where
inv(B) is the inverse of matrix B.
Power A ^ B Matrix exponentiation of A and B. The power is
computed by repeated squaring
 Examples

>> A = [ 2 4 ; 8 10]; >> A = [ 2 4 ; 8 10];

>> B = [2 4; 2 5]; >> B = [2 4; 2 5];
>> C = A*B >> C = B*A
C = C =

12 28 36 48
36 82 44 58
 Common MATLAB
Functions
 A few of the most common and useful MATLAB functions

who List current variables

whos List current variables, long form

clear Clear variables and functions from memory

disp Display matrix or text

clc Clear command window

demo Run demonstrations

 Built-in Function of Elementary
Math
abs(x) Calculates |x|
angle(x) Returns the phase angle of the complex value x, in radians

exp(x) Calculate ex
mod(x) Remainder or modulo function
log(x) Calculates the natural logarithm logex
sqrt(x) Calculates the square root of x
sin(x) Calculates the sin(x), with x in radians
cos(x) Calculates the cos(x), with x in radians
tan(x) Calculates the tan(x), with x in radians
ceil(x) Rounds x to the nearest integer towards positive infinity
fix(x) Rounds x to the nearest integer towards zero
floor(x) Rounds x to the nearest integer towards minus infinity
round(x) Rounds x to the nearest integer
 Examples
>> z = 2*sin(pi/2)+log(2) >> z = 2*sin(pi/2)+log(2)

z = z =

2.6931 2.6931

>> z = round(z) >> z = round(z)

z = z =

3 3