MATLAB Primer Second Edition

The MATLAB Primer may be distributed as desired subject to the following conditions: 1. It may not be altered in any w ay, except possibly adding an addendum giving information about the local computer installation. 2. It, or any part thereof, may not be used as part of a document distributed for a commercial purpose. In particular, it may be distributed via a local copy center or bookstore. Users usually appreciate the convenience and durability of a bound copy w i t h a c o ver, copy center style. i Introduction MATLAB is an interactive, matrix-based system for scientiic and engineering calculations. You can solve complex numerical problems without actually writing a program. The name MATLAB is an abbreviation for MATrix LABoratory. The purpose of this Primer is to help you begin to use MATLAB. They can best be used hands-on. You are encouraged to work at the computer as you read the Primer and freely experiment with examples. You should liberally use the on-line help facility for more detailed information. After entering MATLAB as described in section 1, the command help will display a list of functions for which on-line help is availablee the command help functionname will give information about a speciic function. The command help eig, for example, will give information about the eigenvalue function eig. Y ou can preview some of the features of MATLAB by e n tering the command demo. The scope and power of MATLAB go far beyond these notes. Eventually you will want to consult the MATLAB User's Guide and Reference Guide. The documentation which accompanies the Student Edition of MATLAB is an excellent source. Copies of the complete User's Guide are often available for review at locations such as consulting desks, terminal rooms, computing labs, and the reserve desk of the library. Consult your instructor or your local computing center to learn where the User's Guides are located at your institution. MATLAB is available for a number of environments: Sun/Apollo/VAXstation/HP workstations, VAX, MicroVAX, Gould, PC and AT compatibles, 80386 and 80486 computers , Apple Macintosh, and several parallel machines. There is a relatively inexpensive Student Edition available from Prentice Hall publishers. The information in these notes applies generally to all of these environments. While the second edition of the Primer is based on version 3.5 of MATLAB, it is compatible with version 4.0 with the fundamental diierences noted. An edition …