Matlab Resources: Tutorials and Beyond

Introductions to Matlab

These tutorials will discuss why we use Matlab for coursework (and not Java, C, C++, Fortran, Perl, Python, Maple, Mathematica, etc...), how to get started, and where to find resources for further exploration. They are aimed at students who have not previously used Matlab.

Times:

• Wednesday, September 16 2009, 5pm - 7pm, location DMP 101.

Material:

• Slides from the tutorial.
• Example m-files:
  • A script: sampleScript.m
  • A function: butterfly.m

Alternative Workshop at UBC:

Mathworks (the company that owns Matlab) is holding a longer introductory seminar Thursday September 17, 9:30 - 12:30, as well as an afternoon session on parallel programming in Matlab. To a large extent, the material in my seminar and the Mathworks' seminar are orthogonal: my seminar will focus on why we use Matlab and exactly how to use it in the Computer Science department, while Mathworks will include more depth on the basic language and the many new features of very recent versions. Register for the Mathworks seminar.

From the Mathworks: These resources are from the company that develops and distributes Matlab.

• Getting Started with Matlab, a traditional introductory manual available either in Adobe Acrobat format (pdf), or online as hypertext (look at the top of the left hand frame for a link labelled "Getting Started").
• Click along Tutorials from the Mathworks Academia site.
• A collection of short demos. Some are text and graphics, and some are Flash animations with voice-over. Most relevant to beginners who need Matlab for coursework:
  • Help and Documentation. If you know the name of the command you want to use, you can get its documentation quickly by typing 'help ' in the command window; for example, to learn about the 'plot' command, type 'help plot'.
  • Desktop and Command Window. The older, text-only interface to Matlab is equvalent to the Desktop's 'Command Window'. In Unix environments, you can access this older interface by running 'matlab -nojvm' or 'matlab -nodesktop'.
  • Algorithm Development. Uses the lane identification example that appears in other demos.
  • Publishing and Sharing Results. These techniques may be useful for generating well documented solutions sets for homework assignments.
  • Basic Matrix Operations.
  • Matrix Manipulation.
  • 2-D Plots.
  • Images and Matrices.
  • Splines in Two Dimensions.
  • Numerical Integration of Differential Equations.
  • Differential Equations in Matlab.
• A collection of lengthy pre-recorded webinars (seminars on the web). You will need to fill out a short form to view these flash animations, but they are available for free.

Other Free Sources: These sources were found using either Google or Matlab Central (see below). While the tutorials cover the basics of working with Matlab, many refer to much older versions of Matlab: The current version on the UBC CPSC machines is 7.6 (R2008a), and these tutorials often refer to versions 5.3 or 6.5. The basic command methods have not changed, but the newer versions have lots of graphical interfaces to make learning easier.

• YAGTOM (Yet Another Guide TO Matlab), a recent (2008) collection of tutorials spanning from basic to advanced topics (by Matthew Dunham and Kevin Murphy from UBC CS).
• Introductory Guide from 1998 but still largely relevant (by Ian Cavers from UBC CS).
• Tutorials at Southern Illinois University. Tutorials 1 and 2 are generally useful. Tutorials 3 and 4 will be relevant to CPSC 302, while tutorial 5 will be relevant to CPSC 303.
• Basic tutorial at University of Florida.
• Matlab Introduction from Rice.
• A tutorial on MEX with lots of comments on how to make the compiling and linking process work. MEX is the programming interface used when you want to connect compiled code (C/C++/Fortran) with Matlab. It is definitely an advanced topic.

Other Sources: These ones will cost you some money. I have not personally tried any of them, so I do not endorse or make any representation about their suitability to your needs.

• chapters.indigo.ca lists over 300 books on Matlab, many of them introductions.
• Amazon.ca lists over 700 books on Matlab, many of them introductions.
• TechnicalMastery.com has a Matlab Mastery I series of self-paced video lessions.

Additional Matlab Resources

• Wikipedia entry on Matlab, including some criticism of the language.
• The complete Matlab documentation, either online in hypertext or in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format.
• Matlab Central, an open exchange site hosted by the Mathworks for their user community. Contains links and code (and even blogs!) for doing almost anything under the sun using Matlab.
• The Mathworks web site, where you can access all the documentation and products related to Matlab and its sister product Simulink.
• A US federal antitrust case against The Mathworks Inc and Wind River Systems Inc (former maker of a competitor to Matlab called MATRIXx) alleging that Mathworks paid Wind River to eliminate the MATRIXx product. The apparent outcome.