Getting started with MATLAB or Python

MATLAB (MATrix LABoratory) is a high level computer language/ interactive software package developed and distributed by MathWorks™. Matlab was first developed in the 1970s by Cleve Molar.<ref name="origins"> Moler, Cleve. (December, 2004). **The Origins of MATLAB**.[website]</ref> Cleve was later joined by John N. Little and Steve Bangert and the three went on to found MathWorks™. MATLAB excels at performing matrix operations

Access / Installation

MATLAB is installed on all computers in the John Hodgins Engineering Student Technology Centre (JHE 233A / 234) as well as the Burke Science Building Labs (BSB 241 / 242 / 244 / 249). The most up to date release of MATLAB is version R2010b. The versions installed in JHE and BSB are ???? and ???? respectively. While there are some backward compatibility issues when it comes to older versions of MATLAB, for the level of code that will be encountered in this class students should not encounter issues with portability of code. MATLAB is proprietary software and so no free versions exist (legally...). A MATLAB/SIMULINK student package (version R2010A, good for Windows, Mac, and Linux) is available at the University Book Store for $112.95 (for those students who would like a copy of MATLAB on their laptop or home PC).

Accessing MATLAB in JHE

MATLAB may be accessed in the JHE computer labs using the following steps:

1. Open the **start** menu
2. Go to

Accessing MATLAB in BSB

MATLAB may be accessed in the BSB computer labs using the following steps:

1. Open the **start** menu
2. Go to

Getting Started

When you launch MATLAB the following window will open:

Additional Resources

[MATLAB primer] written by Dr.Prashant Mhaskar