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MATLAB Primer

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The new edition of this bestselling primer features the latest release of the powerhouse mathematics software package MATLAB, version 6.1. MATLAB recently incorporated an extensive graphical user interface (GUI), and now, more than ever, it offers an intuitive language for expressing problems and solutions both mathematically and graphically.
This edition of the Primer offers a complete overview of the new GUI along with a host of other refinements.
More emphasis on matrix operations and a new section on the find function that helps you avoid using cumbersome DO loops and makes your code faster and easier to read
Full descriptions of all examples, which are now linked to lead you through each chapter, showing how to input and use each example in actual problems
A new chapter on programming that clearly shows how to call a C routine from MATLAB
New discussions on sparse matrix ordering and visualizations that show how to take advantage of sparsity and solve problems that may otherwise be intractable
Why spend endless hours struggling through thick manuals when the MATLAB Primer, Sixth Edition can get you going in a fraction of the time? It provides streamlined but thorough coverage, convenient size, and an economical price that make it not only an outstanding introduction for new users, but a handy reference for those already using MATLAB to solve real problems.

176 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2001

51 people want to read

About the author

Timothy A. Davis

6 books10 followers

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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Profile Image for Alien Bookreader.
329 reviews43 followers
June 18, 2022
Writing this the day after my matlab exam. This book is very useful for beginners. If theres any coding language you need a book for, it’s matlab. Let me explain why:


This book explains in plain English, how to structure loops, how to use certain functions, etc. This is a sharp contrast to the matlab documentation which I feel is written in riddles that must be deciphered. It’s almost like a litmus test - only people who have the endurance to decipher the matlab jargon and the very mysteriously worded error messages can proceed.


Matlab, unlike other programming languages is not open source. There’s way less available online to trouble shoot and debug than for languages like python, Java, R. This is of course very frustrating. For python- any imaginable coding problem you can have has probably happened to someone else already, who posted about it on stack overflow and got a solution. Googling for matlab helps a little but there is way less out there for matlab than for other coding languages.

Matlab, being a closed, institution- only coding language, means there are less hobbyists doing it, less people learning it, posting about it. Getting a book about matlab will help you fill in the gaps in your knowledge, especially if you’re a beginner.

I also highly recommend using YouTube or finding a matlab tutor. When I learned R and python, googling was enough but with matlab you have to hunt down the answers to your questions. The information is scarce, so find it wherever you can.

This is a book for total matlab beginners, nothing advanced, just a good introduction to coding and using the matlab interface. It’s written in plain English, so you can actually make sense of matlab. Get it for yourself or the poor souls in your life who are for some reason, learning matlab.
Profile Image for Russel.
40 reviews4 followers
October 19, 2012
I admit to having read through this skimmingly, but it was necessary. I kept on encountering Matlab in Engineering and had to help people or myself in accomplishing things in it. I liked that the book got to the point and didn't teach programming. It taught Matlab and quickly. That's what I enjoyed and needed.
Profile Image for Brian Cham.
764 reviews43 followers
December 23, 2020
A nice and useful summary of Matlab for the beginner student. I found it quite helpful as a reference.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews

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