Mathematics is an integral part of our lives. From paying for groceries to balancing our cheque books, we use maths in some way or the other in our daily life. Maths is incredibly important in our lives and the laws of mathematics govern everything around us. A good understanding of mathematical principles is beneficial in making life easier. Let’s illustrate this point with a simple example. Suppose you go to a super market to buy milk. Let’s assume a 500 ml carton of milk costs Rs. 35, while a 1 litre carton costs Rs. 65. Which one is cheaper? For most people, the answer comes instinctively, without even realizing that there is maths at work behind the scene. This is but a very simple example of mathematics in daily life. We use maths almost every day even without thinking about it. And it plays an even more important role in developing things and systems; architects, engineers and engineering services providers, share traders who rely on technical analysis and many others use mathematics to solve problems and provide solutions. While solving maths problems manually is required in schools to develop analytical and logical skills of children, it is not practical to rely on them later on in life. For complex analysis in real life, manually solving mathematical equations is not the right answer.
Introducing MATLAB
MATLAB from MathWorks is a very powerful software package that has many built-in tools for solving problems and developing graphical illustrations. MATLAB is a short form of MATrix LABoratory. It is called so because its basic data element is a matrix, which is nothing but an array in mathematical terms. MATLAB is essentially a software for numerical calculations that can be used for math computations, modelling and simulation, data analysis and processing, visualization and graphics, and algorithm development. It is a high-level programming language and interactive environment for numerical computation, visualization and programming. MATLAB provides tools for solving problems and developing graphical illustrations using built-in functions to perform many operations. The software also includes an integrated development environment, as well as both procedural and object-oriented programming constructs.
MATLAB is essentially a software for scientific and numerical calculations. It has a whole bunch of built-in functions for a wide variety of computations and many toolboxes. It incorporates functionality matrix manipulations and graphical interpretation of functions and data that is directed toward specific research disciplines. The numerical method calculations include those for statistics, partial differential equations, optimization and data analysis. With the powerful built-in functional library that MATLAB provides, it is possible to implement algorithms, create user interfaces and generate plots. In addition, if you are programming savvy, you can also develop custom mathematical solutions using languages like C, C++, Java and even FORTRAN, which was a popular scientific programming language in the late 80's. MATLAB allows users to run analyses on larger data sets, and scale up to clusters and clouds. MATLAB code can be integrated with other languages, enabling users to deploy algorithms and applications within web, enterprise, and production systems.
Though it covers vast functionality that is extremely useful to the scientific and mathematics community, the MATLAB programming language has a relatively gentle learning curve. It gives very compact and readable code that closely resembles the mathematical equations required for solving the problem at hand. This is one of the reasons why MATLAB is a very popular language for technical computing used by students, engineers, and scientists in universities, research institutes, and industries all over the world.
MATLAB Environment
Today, MATLAB is a very popular and indispensible tool that is used in universities and colleges for introductory and advanced courses in mathematics, science, and especially engineering. MATLAB can also be used for Economics. In industry the software is used in research, development, and design. The standard MATLAB program has tools (functions) that can be used to solve common problems. In addition, MATLAB has optional toolboxes that are collections of specialized programs designed to solve specific types of problems.
The MATLAB environment comprises of the following components:
MATLAB language: The MATLAB language is a high level scripting language. It has control flow statements, data structures, object oriented programming features and provision for input and output. The MATLAB package comes with sophisticated libraries for matrix operations, general numeric methods and plotting of data.
MATLAB Handle Graphics: Handle Graphics is a concept that MATLAB uses to deal with all MATLAB graphics. It has high level commands for 2D and 3D data visualization. Handles can be either integers or floating point numbers that MATLAB automatically generates for an object.
Mathematical Function Library: MATLAB provides a vast range of built-in mathematical functions that range from simple mathematical operations like summing numbers to complicated ones like Fourier transform, Gaussian elimination, eignenvalue and eigenvectors, Bessel functions, etc. The math library has literally 100's of functions that reduce coding effort.
MATLAB Working Environment: The MATLAB Working Environment includes an array of tools that help work in MATLAB. It can manage variables in the workspace, import and export data across applications and has tools to develop and manage MATLAB files.
MATLAB API: The MATLAB Application programming interface (API) is a set of programming code that enables users to write code in FORTAN or C that can transmit data to and from MATLAB. It also contains the terms of this data exchange.
The MATLAB software is supported on Linux, Windows and Mac platforms. Since it was introduced in 1984, there have been constant revisions and updates in MATLAB offering. The latest version of MATLAB provides tools for Deep Learning, Lidar Toolbox, RoadRunner Scene Builder, Simulink Online and UAV Toolbox.
Summary of MATLAB:
MATLAB is vast software that allows symbolic calculations and the manipulation of complex mathematical formulas. It contains extensive capabilities for generating graphs and other useful tools for mathematicians, engineers, researchers and economists alike. The combination of computational and visualization power that MATLAB provides has made it a popular choice even in schools and colleges. While each version introduces new features, it is not necessary for users to buy all the library tools and utilities. To decide which version and which tools will best suit your organization’s needs, it is better to consultant experts. One such expert is DesignTech Systems, India who are an authorized dealer for MathWorks. They have the experience to guide you properly in choosing the correct version of MATLAB and the appropriate tools and library you will need.