GETTING STARTED WITH MATLAB

This lab is to familiarize the students with MATLAB environment through it some
preliminary MATLAB functions.

Introduction to MATLAB

Too add comment the following symbol is used "%".

Help is provided by typing help or if you know the topic then help function_name or
doc function_name.

If you don't know the exact name of the topic or command you are looking for, type "lookfor
keyword" (e.g., "lookfor regression")

Three dots ... are used to continue a statement to next line (row).

If after a statement ; is entered then MATLAB will not display the result of the statement
entered otherwise result would be displayed.

MATLAB is case sensitive, so dsp is not same as DSP.

Use
commands).
the up-arrow to recall commands without retyping them (and down arrow to go forward in

Basic functionalities of MATLAB

Defining a scalar:
>> = 1
x =

1
Defining a column vector:
>> = [1; 2; 3]
v =

1
2
3
Defining a row vector
>> = [2 1 4]
w =

2 1 4
Transpose a vector
>> =

W =
2
1
4
Defining a range for a vector
>> X = 1: .5: 5
X =
Columns 1 through 7
1.5000

1.0000

2.0000

2.5000

3.0000

4.0000
Columns 8 through 9
4.5000

5.0000

Empty vector
>> = [ ]
y =

[]
Defining a matrix
>> = [1 2 3; 4 5 6]
M =

Zero matrix
>> M = zeros(2,3) % 1st parameter is row, 2nd parameter is column.
M =

ones matrix
>> b = ones(2, 3)
b =

Identity matrix
>> I = eye(3)
I =

3.5000

Define a random matrix or vector

>> R = rand(1,3)
R =

0.1576

0.9706

0.9572

Access a vector or matrix

>> (3)

ans =
0.9572

or
>> (1,2)
ans =

0.9706
Access a row or column of matrix
>> I(2, : ) %2

nd

row

ans =

>> (: ,2)

nd

%2

ans =

0
1
0
I(1:2,1:2)
ans =
1

size and length

>> size(I)

ans =
3

>> length(I)
ans =

0
col

Operations on vector and matrices in MATLAB

MATLAB utilizes the following arithmetic operators;

Addition

Subtraction

Multiplication

Division

Power operator

transpose

Some built in functions in MATLAB

abs

Magnitude of a number (absolute value for real

numbers)

angle

Angle of a complex number, in radians

cos

Cosine function, arguments is in radians

sin

Sine function, arguments in radians

exp

Exponential function

sqrt

Square root

round

Round off to nearest integer

max

Maximum value

min

Minimum Value

ceil

Round towards +

floor

Round towards

Relational operators in MATLAB

Relational operators: =(equal), ~=3D (not equal), etc.

Let
>> = [ ]
a =

1 1 3 4 1
>> = ( == )

d=

>> = ( <= )
d=

>> = ( < )
1
1

d=

>> = ( > )
0

>> = ( >= )
d=

0
1

d=

>> = ( ~ = )
d=

Basic Plotting in MATLAB

MATLAB has an excellent set of graphic tools. Plotting a given data set or the results of computation is
possible with very few commands. You are highly encouraged to plot mathematical functions and results
of analysis as often as possible.

To plot a graph, MATLAB command is: plot(x, y)

Plot command has different arguments.

Example:

Note:

0: /100: 2

Starts at 0,

Takes steps (or increments) of /100,

Stops when 2 .

If you omit the increment, MATLAB automatically increments by 1.

Adding title, axis label and annotations

Multiple data set in one plot command

The result of multiple data set in one graph

Specifying Line styles and color.

plot(x, y, style_color_marker)

Control Flow in MATLAB

Like other computer programming language, MATLAB has decision making statements to control the
flow of program.

the for loops

the while loops

the if-else-end constructions

the switch-case constructions

Syntax of the for loop is shown below

for k = array
commands end
The commands between the for and end statements are executed for all values stored in the array.
Example
for n=0:10
x(n+1) = sin(pi*n/10); end
x =
Columns 1 through 7
0

0.3090

0.5878

0.8090

0.3090

0.0000

0.9511
Columns 8 through 11
0.8090

0.5878

0.9511

1.0000

Syntax of the while loop is

while expression
statements
end

This loop is used when the number of repetitions is not known in advance. Suppose that the number
is divided by 2. The resulting quotient is divided by 2 again. This process is continued till the current
quotient is less than or equal to 0.01. What is the largest quotient that is greater than 0.01?
To answer this question we write a few lines of code q =
pi;
while q > 0.01
q = q/2;
end
q =
0.0061

Syntax of the simplest form of the construction under discussion is

if expression
commands
end

This construction is used if there is one alternative only. Two alternatives require the construction

if expression
commands (evaluated if expression is true) else
commands (evaluated if expression is false) end

If there are several alternatives one should use the following construction
if expression1
commands (evaluated if expression 1 is true) elseif expression
2
commands (evaluated if expression 2 is true) elseif
...
else
commands (executed if all previous expressions evaluate to false) end

Syntax of the switch-case construction is

switch expression (scalar or string)

case value1 (executes if expression evaluates to value1) commands
case value2 (executes if expression evaluates to value2) commands
...
otherwise statement
end

Switch compares the input expression to each case value. Once the %match is found it executes
the associated commands.

In the following example a random integer number x from the set {1, 2, , 10} is generated. If x = 1
or x = 2, then the message Probability = 20% is displayed to the screen. If x = 3 or 4 or 5, then the
message Probability = 30 is displayed, otherwise the message Probability = 50% is generated. The
script file fswitch utilizes a switch as a tool %for handling all cases mentioned above

% Script file (fswitch).

x = ceil(10*rand); %Generate a random integer in {1, 2, ... , 10}
switch x
case {1,2}
disp('Probability = 20%');
case {3,4,5}

disp('Probability = 30%');
otherwise
disp('Probability = 50%');
end

Creating functions using m-files

So far, all the commands were executed in the command window. The commands entered in the
command window cannot be saved or executed again several times. Therefore, there is different
way of executing the commands is possible in MATLAB.

create a file with list of commands

Save the file

Execute the file.

If needed, corrections or changes can be made to the commands in the file. The files of this type
are called script files.
This section covers the following topics:

m-file script
m- file functions

A script file is an external file that contains a sequence of MATLAB commands. Script files have a
filename extension . and are often called M-files. M-files can be scripts that simply execute a series of
MATLAB statements, or they can be functions that can accept arguments and can produce one or more
outputs.
Example:

Use MATLAB editor to create a file: File New M file

Enter the following statements in the file

= [1 2 3; 3 3 4; 2 3 3];
= [1; 1; 2];

= /

Run the file, in command line as

Save the file as first.m

>>
=

0.5000
1.5000

0.5000

When execution completes, the variables (A, b, and x) remain in the workspace. Function file will be
discussed later.

Exercises:
1. Operate with the vectors
V1 = [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0]
V2 = [0.3 1.2 0.5 2.1 0.1 0.4 3.6 4.2 1.7 0.9] V3 =
[4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 1]
a)

Calculate, respectively, the sum of all the elements in vectors V1, V2, and V3

b)

How to get the value of the fifth element of each vector?

What happens if we execute the command V1(0) and V1(11)? (Remember if a vector
has N elements, their subscripts are from 1 to N).
c)

Generate a new vector V4 from V2, which is composed of the first five elements of V2.

d)

Generate a new vector V5 from V2, which is composed of the last five elements of V2.

e)

Derive a new vector V6 from V2, with its 6th element omitted.

f)

Derive a new vector V7 from V2, with its 7th element changed to 1.4.

g)

Derive a new vector V8 from V2, whose elements are the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9 elements

th

of V2
h)

What are the results of

9-V1

V1*5

V1+V2

V1-V3

V1.*V2

V1*V2

V3-(V1>2)

2. Compare a script and a function

a) Write a script: In the main menu of Matlab,
select file -> new -> M-file
A new window will pop up. Input the following commands:
x = 1:5;
y = 6:10;
g = x+y;
and then save the file as myscript.m

V1.^2

V1.^V3

V1>V3