The MATLAB Editor

Scripts and Functions

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MATLAB for the Sciences

The MATLAB Editor, Scripts, and Functions

Jon M. Ernstberger

January 6, 2008

Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences

 The MATLAB Editor
Scripts and Functions
The MATLAB Editor, Cont.
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The MATLAB Editor

To access the MATLAB editor, simply type “edit” at the terminal.

The editor provides the basic interface for programming in any

form in MATLAB.
This is more than JUST a text editor. You’ll see that.
Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences
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MATLAB Scripts

What is a Script?
A MATLAB script is a sequence of commands that has been saved
to a file.

Traditionally saved to files

with extensions “.m”.
Scope: can interact with the
currently available
workspace. Pro or con?
You may have to clear
variables!

Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences

 The MATLAB Editor
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Exercises

Do a help on “clear”. Create a simple script which adds the

squares of both x and y . In your terminal set x = 2 and
y = 4. What happens if you do or don’t include “clear all” in
your MATLAB script?
Do a help on “zeros”, and a help on “rand”. In a new
MATLAB script named zero test.m make a random matrix
which has dimension 1000 × 1000. Create a matrix of identical
size of zeros. Add, subtract, and multiply these matrices
together. In full sentences in comments, at the top of your
script, describe each “built-in” MATLAB function used and
the intent of this script. In the first three lines of these
comments place your name, the script name, and the date.

Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences

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Exercises, cont.

Do a help on “save”. In that same script file listed above,

save the variable workspace to your hard-disk in a .mat file
named “big matrices.mat” using the command in the script
(not using a command through the MATLAB IDE). Heavily
comment this line for future remembrance.

Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences

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MATLAB Functions

What defines a mathematical function? (Hint: think domains

and elements.)
What about a function

F (x) : Rn → Rm ?

ex: f (x, y ) = x 2 + y 2 , x 2 − y 2

The idea is “ For one (set of) input(s), there is one (set of)
output(s).”
We often want to define MATLAB “functions” which take
inputs and return non-ambiguous outputs.

Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences

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MATLAB Functions, cont.

MATLAB functions take inputs and return the outputs.

Still saved as an m-file.

Functions are to be used for
encapsulating often reused
bodies of code.
Called via
>>x=2;
>>y=sample_function1(x);

Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences

 The MATLAB Editor
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Multi-input/output functions

I can have multiple inputs and outputs to any MATLAB

function.
This saves the programmer from writing multiple functions
which take the same inputs to output different values.

function [f,g]=pseudo_fcn1(x,y)
f=x^2+y^2;
g=x^2-y^2;

Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences

 The MATLAB Editor
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A Sample Function

Compute the area of a circle in a function.

A = πr 2

%This function computes the area of a circle.

%Input: radius r
%Output: area
function area=circle_properties(r)

area=pi*r^2;

In-Class Exercise
Download circle properties.m and change this function to also
output circumference.
Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences
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More Exercises

Create a function which takes as input a single value or a

vector of values and returns the tangent of that/those values.
You may not use the tan(x) function built into MATLAB.
Name this function hard tan and save it as hard tan.m. Again
heavily comment this piece of code.
Save the above function as hard sec and alter this function to
output the secant and cosecant of x using only the sine and
cosine functions. In your comments, include all of these
changes and be sure to mention which values cannot be input.

Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences

 The MATLAB Editor
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More Exercises, cont.

Create a function called half life. This function should take as

input decay rates, initial amounts of a radioactive substance,
and amount of time the quantity has been decaying. Heavily
comment this function.
Modify this function to output a second argument, the
half-life of the material. Test your results with Neptunium-239
and Carbon-14. (Hint: use Google or Wikipedia.)

Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences

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Comments
What’s the big deal about comments?
Example
% Jon Ernstberger
% 12/22/2008
% Sample Comments

Each comment begins with a “%”.

Everything on a line that starts with the “%” will be
considered a comment.
Helpful Hints:
Do not use short-hand. Use complete sentences.
Always comment!
Comment often.
Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences
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The Text Menu

“Comment/Uncomment”. Highlight a body of code and

comment or uncomment those commandlines.
“Increase Indent/Decrease Indent”. Highlight a body of code
and increase or decrease the indentation.
“Smart Indent”. The MATLAB editor should “smartly”
choose the indentation of an indented group of text. Should
be automatic.
“Code Folding”. If you have tons of nested codes, this can
compact your code incredibly for purposes of readability!

Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences

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The Tools Menu

MATLAB Profiler
Useful for identifying trouble points in your code.

The Profiler identifies portions of code which take the longest

periods of time.
Some codes require hours, days, or months of time to run! By
reducing the runtime of the “heavy” portions of code, these
runtimes are highly decreased.
The Profiler also makes suggestions for reprogramming certain
code portions.
We’ll go into more detail at a later point (hopefully).

Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences

 The MATLAB Editor
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The Window Menu

“Split-screen”. Helps you see and compare bodies of code in

conjunction.
Tiling of windows is useful to keep more than two files open
for editing or comparison.

Programming Hint
Use “Left/Right Split Screen” in order to edit scripts and
functions. This helps the programmer see the most code possible.

Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences

 The MATLAB Editor
Scripts and Functions
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In-Class Assignments

1 Write a MATLAB function named temp convert which takes

as input temperature in Fahrenheit and outputs the conversion
in degrees Celsius. How can you test to make sure it works?
2 Write a MATLAB script which evaluates the temperature at
95◦ and −44.5◦ Fahrenheit.
3 Modify your function temp convert to have a second output
for degrees Kelvin.
4 Rerun Problem 2 to test your answers.

Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences

 The MATLAB Editor
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Take Home Assignments

1 The maximum height of a projectile with initial velocity
 V
2 2 A
fired at angle A radians above the horizon is V sin
2g
2
where g = 9.81m/s . What is the maximum height reached
by a rock from a volcano ejected at 700 m/s at an angle of
60◦ ?[1] (Hint: Type help sin.)
2 The difference formula is given as
f (x + h) − f (x)
h 6= 0.
h
Set h = 1 × 10−5 and let f (x) = x 2 + 2x + 1. Write a
MATLAB function for f (x) named quadratic fcn1 which takes
as input x and outputs f (x). Write a MATLAB script named
quadratic fcn1 eval to evaluate the difference quotient for
f (x) at x = 10, x = 20, and x = 1000.
Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences
 The MATLAB Editor
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References

S.L. Edgar.
Fortran for the’90s: problem solving for scientists and
engineers.
Computer Science Press New York, NY, 1992.

Jon M. Ernstberger MATLAB for the Sciences