MATLAB (matrix laboratory)
MATLAB, short for "matrix laboratory," is a powerful numerical computing environment and programming language widely used in engineering, mathematics, and scientific research. Initially developed in the late 1970s by Cleve Moler to assist students unfamiliar with the FORTRAN programming language, it has since evolved into a comprehensive tool that supports advanced mathematical operations far beyond simple calculators or spreadsheets. It can interface with multiple programming languages, including C, C++, Java, and Python, and offers users the ability to create custom user interfaces.
MATLAB is particularly renowned for its ability to handle matrices, which was one of its original strengths, making it a favorite among applied mathematicians and control engineers. The software has expanded to include object-oriented programming features and integrates seamlessly with Simulink, a graphical programming environment for simulating complex dynamic systems across various energy domains, such as electrical and mechanical systems. Additionally, MATLAB's capabilities have been enhanced over the years, including the incorporation of symbolic computing through the Symbolic Math Toolbox, which allows for sophisticated algebraic calculations.
Used extensively as a teaching tool in higher education, MATLAB helps students grasp complex concepts in numerical analysis and linear algebra, making it a valuable asset in the academic toolkit for those studying advanced mathematics and engineering disciplines.
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MATLAB (matrix laboratory)
MATLAB is a numerical computing environment and scripting programming language. Numerical computing environments like MATLAB allow for much more sophisticated and complicated mathematical work than simple calculator programs or spreadsheet software packages can accomplish. MATLAB is short for "matrix laboratory," and its ability to work with matrices was one of its original strengths, though this is now just one of many features. Originally intended as a shortcut for students who didn’t know FORTRAN, it now also interfaces with programs written in C, C++, Java, and Python, and allows users to create their own user interfaces.
Overview
MATLAB was first developed by Cleve Moler, a professor of math and computer science, at the University of New Mexico in the late 1970s as a workaround for students who didn’t know the FORTRAN programming language. He later made it a commercial endeavor, founding MathWorks with engineer Jack Little and Steve Bangert in 1984, with MATLAB’s first commercial release following at the end of that year.
MATLAB was initially popular among applied mathematicians and control engineers, who design systems that make corrections based on feedback from sensors (such as the cruise control system available in cars at the time or the active park assist system developed for cars in the 2010s). It has become popular throughout the mathematics and engineering worlds.
GUIDE is MATLAB’s graphical user interface (GUI) developing environment for designing GUIs. Over time, MATLAB added limited support for object-oriented programming, including classes and inheritance, pass-by-value and pass-by-reference semantics, packages, and virtual dispatch, though many of the conventions of MATLAB’s object-oriented features differ from what programmers are used to. MATLAB can directly access libraries written in MATLAB, Perl, Java, ActiveX or .Net, and Mathworks sells a separate MATLAB toolbox (a collection of functions and apps) for accessing MATLAB from Java.
In 2008, MathWorks bought SciFace, owners of MuPAD, a computer algebra system. It has since been bundled with MATLAB as part of the Symbolic Math Toolbox, extending MATLAB’s abilities to include symbolic computing. Computer algebra systems are programs that work like advanced algebraic calculators, able to handle algebraic expressions, polynomials, integral transforms, and some differential equations. MATLAB continued to receive updates through the early 2020s, adding thousands of new capabilities and features relevant to the ever-changing technological landscape.
MATLAB is integrated with Simulink, a graphical programming environment that can either be driven by MATLAB scripts or be used as the interface from which to run MATLAB. Simulink is used for simulating multidomain dynamic systems. A multidomain dynamic system is powered by more than one energy domain, including electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, and thermal. Thus, designing a multidomain dynamic system is a complex engineering task. Add-on software for Simulink includes software to generate C source code for real-time implementation, real-time testing of models, and formal verification and validation tools, along with libraries of graphical building blocks.
MATLAB is often used as a teaching tool for college-level or advanced high school mathematics like numerical analysis and linear algebra, the mathematics of vector spaces and linear mappings between them.
Bibliography
Adams, Abi, Damian Clarke, and Simon Quinn. Microeconometrics and MATLAB. New York: Oxford UP, 2016. Print.
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Gilat, Amos. MATLAB: An Introduction with Applications. New York: Wiley, 2014. Print.
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Rosenbaum, David A., Jonathan Vaughan, and Brad Wyble. MATLAB for Behavioral Scientists. New York: Routledge, 2014. Print.
Tutika, Sivani. "Why Learn MATLAB In 2024: Your Gateway to the Future of Tech." Medium, 8 Dec. 2023, medium.com/@sivanitutika4/why-learn-matlab-in-2024-your-gateway-to-the-future-of-tech-1d675187caed. Accessed 12 Nov. 2024.
Wallisch, Pascal, Michael Lusignan, Marc D. Benayoin, Tanya I. Baker, and Adam S. Dickey. MATLAB for Neuroscientists. Waltham: Academic, 2013. Print.