MATLAB for Beginners

MATLAB, which stands for MATrix LABoratory, is a state-of-the-art mathematical software package, which is used extensively in both academia and industry. It is an interactive program for numerical computation and data visualization, which along with its programming capabilities provides a very useful tool for almost all areas of science and engineering. Unlike other mathematical packages, such as MAPLE or MATHEMATICA, MATLAB cannot perform symbolic manipulations without the use of additional Toolboxes. It remains however, one of the leading software packages for numerical computation. The purpose of this tutorial is to familiarize the beginner to MATLAB, by introducing the basic features and commands of the program. It is in no way a complete reference and the reader is encouraged to further enhance his or her knowledge of MATLAB by reading some of the suggested references at the end of this guide.