MATLAB Coding

MATLAB (Matrix Laboratory) is a numerical computing environment. It is used in digital image processing. It is a fourth-generation language. It allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces, and interfacing with programs written in other languages, including C, C++, Java and Fortran.

MATLAB is a programming language developed by MathWorks. It started out as a matrix programming language where linear algebra programming was simple. It can be run both under interactive sessions and as a batch job. Most MATLAB scripts and functions can be run in the open source programme octave. This is freely available for most computing platforms. MATLAB, among other things, can perform the functions of a simple calculator from the command line.

MATLAB is interesting in that it is dynamically complied. In other words, when you are using it, you would not run all your code through a compiler, generate an executable, and then run the executable file to obtain a result. Instead, MATLAB simply goes line by line and performs the calculations without the need for an executable.

File Extensions for MATLAB programming -

.fig - MATLAB figure
.m - MATLAB function, script or class
.mat - MATLAB binary file for storing variables
.mex - MATLAB executable (platform specific, ".mexmac" for Mac, ".mexglx" for Linux)

MATLAB was first adopted by researchers and practitioners in control engineering but quickly spread to many other domains. It is now also used in education, in particular the teaching of linear algebra and numerical analysis, and is popular amongst scientists involved in image processing.