A Quick Tutorial on MATLAB

Gowtham Bellala

MATLAB

MATLAB is a software package for doing numerical

computation. It was originally designed for solving linear
algebra type problems using matrices. Its name is derived
from MATrix LABoratory.

MATLAB has since been expanded and now has built-in

functions for solving problems requiring data analysis, signal
processing, optimization, and several other types of scientific
computations. It also contains functions for 2-D and 3-D
graphics and animation.

MATLAB Variable names

Variable names are case sensitive.

Variable names can contain up to 63 characters ( as of
MATLAB 6.5 and newer).
Variable names must start with a letter and can be followed by
letters, digits and underscores.
Examples :
>> x = 2;
>> abc_123 = 0.005;
>> 1ab = 2;
Error: Unexpected MATLAB expression

MATLAB Special Variables

pi
eps
inf
NaN
i and j
realmin
realmax

Value of
Smallest incremental number
Infinity
Not a number e.g. 0/0
i = j = square root of -1
The smallest usable positive real number
The largest usable positive real number

MATLAB Relational operators

MATLAB supports six relational operators.

Less Than
Less Than or Equal
Greater Than
Greater Than or Equal
Equal To
Not Equal To

<
<=
>
>=
==
~=

(NOT != like in C)

MATLAB Logical Operators

MATLAB supports three logical operators.
not
and
or

~
&
|

% highest precedence
% equal precedence with or
% equal precedence with and

Matrices and MATLAB

MATLAB Matrices

MATLAB treats all variables as matrices. For our purposes a

matrix can be thought of as an array, in fact, that is how it is
stored.

Vectors are special forms of matrices and contain only one

row OR one column.

Scalars are matrices with only one row AND one column

Generating Matrices

A scalar can be created in MATLAB as follows:

>> x = 23;
A matrix with only one row is called a row vector. A row vector
can be created in MATLAB as follows (note the commas):
>> y = [12,10,-3]
y =
12
10 -3
A matrix with only one column is called a column vector. A
column vector can be created in MATLAB as follows:
>> z = [12;10;-3]
z =
12
10
-3

Generating Matrices

MATLAB treats row vector and column vector very differently

A matrix can be created in MATLAB as follows (note the

commas and semicolons)
>> X = [1,2,3;4,5,6;7,8,9]
X =
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Matrices must be rectangular!

The Matrix in MATLAB

A(2,4)
A(17)

Note: Unlike C, MATLABs indices start from 1

Extracting a Sub-matrix

A portion of a matrix can be extracted and stored in a smaller

matrix by specifying the names of both matrices and the rows
and columns to extract. The syntax is:
sub_matrix = matrix ( r1 : r2 , c1 : c2 ) ;
where r1 and r2 specify the beginning and ending rows and c1
and c2 specify the beginning and ending columns to be
extracted to make the new matrix.

Extracting a Sub-matrix

Example :
>> X = [1,2,3;4,5,6;7,8,9]
X =
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
>> X22 = X(1:2 , 2:3)
X22 =
2
3
5
6

>> X13 = X(3,1:3)

X13 =
7
8
9
>> X21 = X(1:2,1)
X21 =
1
4

Matrix Extension

>> a = [1,2i,0.56]
a =
1
0+2i
0.56
>> a(2,4) = 0.1
a =
1
0+2i
0.56
0
0
0

0
0.1

repmat replicates and tiles a

matrix
>> b = [1,2;3,4]
b =
1
2
3
4
>> b_rep = repmat(b,1,2)
b_rep =
1
2
1
2
3
4
3
4

Concatenation
>> a = [1,2;3,4]
a =
1
2
3
4
>> a_cat =[a,2*a;3*a,2*a]
a_cat =
1
2
2
4
3
4
6
8
3
6
2
4
9
12
6
8
NOTE: The resulting matrix must
be rectangular

Matrix Addition

Increment all the elements of

a matrix by a single value
>> x = [1,2;3,4]
x =
1
2
3
4
>> y = x + 5
y =
6
7
8
9

Adding two matrices

>> xsy = x + y
xsy =
7
9
11
13
>> z = [1,0.3]
z =
1
0.3
>> xsz = x + z
??? Error using => plus
Matrix dimensions must
agree

Matrix Multiplication

Matrix multiplication
>> a = [1,2;3,4];
>> b = [1,1];
>> c = b*a
c =
4
6

(2x2)
(1x2)

>> c = a*b
??? Error using ==> mtimes
Inner matrix dimensions
must agree.

Element wise multiplication

>> a = [1,2;3,4];
>> b = [1,;1/3,];
>> c = a.*b
c =
1
1
1
1

Matrix Element wise operations

>> a = [1,2;1,3];
>> b = [2,2;2,1];

Element wise division

>> c = a./b
c =
0.5
1
0.5
3

Element wise multiplication

>> c = a.*b
c =
2
4
2
3

Element wise power operation

>> c = a.^2
c =
1
4
1
9
>> c = a.^b
c =
1
4
1
3

Matrix Manipulation functions

zeros : creates an array of all zeros,

Ex: x = zeros(3,2)
ones : creates an array of all ones,
Ex: x = ones(2)
eye : creates an identity matrix,
Ex: x = eye(3)
rand : generates uniformly distributed random numbers in [0,1]
diag
: Diagonal matrices and diagonal of a matrix
size
: returns array dimensions
length
: returns length of a vector (row or column)
det
: Matrix determinant
inv
: matrix inverse
eig
: evaluates eigenvalues and eigenvectors
rank
: rank of a matrix
find
: searches for the given values in an array/matrix.

MATLAB inbuilt math functions

Elementary Math functions

abs
- finds absolute value of all elements in the matrix
sign
- signum function
sin,cos, - Trignometric functions
asin,acos - Inverse trignometric functions
exp
- Exponential
log,log10 - natural logarithm, logarithm (base 10)
ceil,floor
- round towards +infinity, -infinity respectively
round
- round towards nearest integer
real,imag - real and imaginary part of a complex matrix
sort
- sort elements in ascending order

Elementary Math functions

sum,prod - summation and product of elements

max,min
- maximum and minimum of arrays
mean,median average and median of arrays
std,var
- Standard deviation and variance

and many more

Graphics Fundamentals

2D Plotting
Example 1: Plot sin(x) and cos(x) over [0,2], on the same plot with
different colours
Method 1:
>> x = linspace(0,2*pi,1000);
>> y = sin(x);
>> z = cos(x);
>> hold on;
>> plot(x,y,b);
>> plot(x,z,g);
>> xlabel X values;
>> ylabel Y values;
>> title Sample Plot;
>> legend (Y data,Z data);
>> hold off;

2D Plotting
Method 2:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>

x = 0:0.01:2*pi;
y = sin(x);
z = cos(x);
figure
plot (x,y,x,z);
xlabel X values;
ylabel Y values;
title Sample Plot;
legend (Y data,Z data);
grid on;

2D Plotting

t
Example 2: Plot the following function y
1 / t

Method 1:
>> t1 = linspace(0,1,1000);
>> t2 = linspace(1,6,1000);
>> y1 = t1;
>> y2 = 1./ t2;
>> t = [t1,t2];
>> y = [y1,y2];
>> figure
>> plot(t,y);
>> xlabel t values, ylabel y values;

0 t 1
1 t 6

2D Plotting
Method 2:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>

t = linspace(0,6,1000);
y = zeros(1,1000);
y(t()<=1) = t(t()<=1);
y(t()>1) = 1./ t(t()>1);
figure
plot(t,y);
xlabelt values;
ylabely values;

Subplots

Syntax: subplot (rows, columns, index)

>> subplot(4,1,1)
>>
>> subplot(4,1,2)
>>
>> subplot(4,1,3)
>>
>> subplot(4,1,4)
>>

Importing/Exporting Data

Load and Save

Using load and save

load filename
- loads all variables from the file filename
load filename x
- loads only the variable x from the file
load filename a* - loads all variables starting with a
for more information, type help load at command prompt
save filename

- saves all workspace variables to a binary

.mat file named filename.mat
save filename x,y - saves variables x and y in filename.mat
for more information, type help save at command prompt

Import/Export from Excel sheet

Copy data from an excel sheet

>> x = xlsread(filename);
% if the file contains numeric values, text and raw data values, then
>> [numeric,txt,raw] = xlsread(filename);

Copy data to an excel sheet

>>x = xlswrite('c:\matlab\work\data.xls',A,'A2:C4')
% will write A to the workbook file, data.xls, and attempt to fit the
elements of A into the rectangular worksheet region, A2:C4. On
success, x will contain 1, while on failure, x will contain 0.
for more information, type help xlswrite at command prompt

Read/write from a text file

Writing onto a text file

>> fid = fopen(filename.txt,w);
>> count = fwrite(fid,x);
>> fclose(fid);
% creates a file named filename.txt in your workspace and stores
the values of variable x in the file. count returns the number of
values successfully stored. Do not forget to close the file at the end.

Read from a text file

>> fid = fopen(filename.txt,r);
>> X = fscanf(fid,%5d);
>> fclose(fid);
% opens the file filename.txt which is in your workspace and loads
the values in the format %5d into the variable x.
Other useful commands: fread, fprintf

Flow Control in MATLAB

Flow control

MATLAB has five flow control statements

- if statements
- switch statements
- for loops
- while loops
- break statements

if statement

The general form of the if

statement is
>> if expression
>>
>> elseif expression
>>
>> else
>>
>> end

Example 1:
>> if i == j
>>
a(i,j) =
>> elseif i >=
>>
a(i,j) =
>> else
>>
a(i,j) =
>> end

2;
j
1;
0;

Example 2:
>> if (attn>0.9)&(grade>60)
>>
pass = 1;
>> end

switch statement

switch Switch among several

cases based on expression

The general form of the switch

statement is:
>> switch switch_expr
>>
case case_expr1
>>

>>
case case_expr2
>>

>>
otherwise
>>

>> end

Example :
>> x = 2, y = 3;
>> switch x
>> case x==y
>>
disp('x and y are equal');
>> case x>y
>>
disp('x is greater than y');
>> otherwise
>>
disp('x is less than y');
>> end
x is less than y
Note: Unlike C, MATLAB doesnt need
BREAKs in each case

for loop

for Repeat statements a

specific number of times

>> for x = 0:0.05:1

>>
printf(%d\n,x);
>> end

The general form of a for

statement is
>> for variable=expression
>>

>>

>> end

Example 1:

Example 2:
>> a = zeros(n,m);
>> for i = 1:n
>>
for j = 1:m
>>
a(i,j) = 1/(i+j);
>>
end
>> end

while loop

while Repeat statements an

indefinite number of times

The general form of a while

statement is
>> while expression
>>

>>

>> end

Example 1:
>> n = 1;
>> y = zeros(1,10);
>> while n <= 10
>>
y(n) = 2*n/(n+1);
>>
n = n+1;
>> end

Example 2:
>> x = 1;
>> while x
>>
%execute statements
>> end
Note: In MATLAB 1 is
synonymous to TRUE and 0 is
synonymous to FALSE

break statement

break terminates the execution of for and while loops

In nested loops, break terminates from the innermost loop only

Example:

>> y = 3;
>> for x = 1:10
>>
printf(%5d,x);
>>
if (x>y)
>>
break;
>>
end
>> end
1
2
3
4

Efficient Programming

Efficient Programming in MATLAB

Avoid using nested loops as far as possible

In most cases, one can replace nested loops with efficient matrix
manipulation.

Preallocate your arrays when possible

MATLAB comes with a huge library of in-built functions, use them

when necessary

Avoid using your own functions, MATLABs functions are more likely
to be efficient than yours.

Example 1

Let x[n] be the input to a non causal FIR filter, with filter
coefficients h[n]. Assume both the input values and the filter
coefficients are stored in column vectors x,h and are given to
you. Compute the output values y[n] for n = 1,2,3 where
19

y[n] h[k ]x[n k ]

k 0

Solution

>>
>>
>>
>>
>>

Method 1:
y = zeros(1,3);
for n = 1:3
for k = 0:19
y(n)= y(n)+h(k)*x(n+k);
end

>>
>>
>>
>>

Method 2 (avoids inner loop):

y = zeros(1,3);
for n = 1:3
y(n) = h*x(n:(n+19));
end

>> end
Method 3 (avoids both the loops):
>> X= [x(1:20),x(2:21),x(3:22)];
>> y = h*X;

Example 2

Compute the value of the following function

y(n) = 13*(13+23)*(13+23+33)**(13+23+ +n3)
for n = 1 to 20

Solution

>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>

Method 1:
y = zeros(20,1);
y(1) = 1;
for n = 2:20
for m = 1:n
temp = temp + m^3;
end
y(n) = y(n-1)*temp;
temp = 0
end

>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>

>>
>>
>>
>>

Method 2 (avoids inner loop):

y = zeros(20,1);
y(1) = 1;
for n = 2:20
temp = 1:n;
y(n) = y(n-1)*sum(temp.^3);
end
Method 3 (avoids both the loops):
X = tril(ones(20)*diag(1:20));
x = sum(X.^3,2);
Y = tril(ones(20)*diag(x))+
triu(ones(20)) eye(20);
y = prod(Y,2);

Getting more help

Where to get help?

In MATLABs prompt type :

help, lookfor, helpwin, helpdesk, demos

On the Web :
http://www.mathworks.com/support
http://www.mathworks.com/products/demos/#
http://www.math.siu.edu/MATLAB/tutorials.html
http://math.ucsd.edu/~driver/21d -s99/MATLAB-primer.html
http://www.mit.edu/~pwb/cssm/
http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~aey/eecs216/.html