Introduction to MATLAB

An important part of TMA4215 Numerical Mathematics is implementing numerical methods in computer programs. MATLAB provides a programming language and interface for this task.

MATLAB is already installed at the computers in Nullrommet, and can be found under Applications→Science. You may also install it on your own computer.

NTNU provides its students with a campus license. Please follow the instructions here.

There are plenty of resources for learning MATLAB. The most accessible is probably the product help of MATLAB itself. In the main MATLAb window, go to Help→Product Help. Under the "Getting started" header, you will find introduction videos and other resources.

The videos "Getting started with MATLAB", "Working in the Development Environment" and "Writing a MATLAB Program" gives an introduction to most of the basic uses of MATLAB.

The product help can also be found online, at http://www.mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/help/techdoc/matlab.shtml.

A (slightly dated) introduction in Norwegian can be found at http://wiki.math.ntnu.no/drift/stud/matlab. There are also several tutorials to be found at http://www.mathworks.com/academia/student_center/tutorials/launchpad.html.

One of the biggest advantages of MATLAB is that it provides an extensive function library. Using these functions is an important part of writing functional and efficient MATLAB code. The help pages for the functions can be found either by searching for the function name in the help browser, or by typing "help <function name>", where <function name> is replaced by the name of the function, in the command window.