how to learn

What is Matlab ?

MATLAB® is a high-level technical computing language and interactive environment for algorithm development, data visualization, data analysis, and numeric computation. Using the MATLAB product, you can solve technical computing problems faster than with traditional programming languages, such as C, C++, and Fortran. More information

In my major: automatic control, we use Matlab as a great simulation program to test our algorithms and automatic control theory, control system as well. Matlab is the required program that every technical students have to learn in their universities.

How to learn effectively ?

I have more than Six years experience in programming Matlab so I would like to help the beginner of studying Matlab some effective ways to learn Matlab. I want to say that: Programming with Matlab is very easy since Matlab supports every functions you need.

1. Learn from Matlab Help

I rate the Matlab help as the most interesting and fully help I have been seen, because I can easily find a function or a statement I don’t know by using command: help function_name or using search box in Matlab Help window.You can open Matlab Help by pressing F1 button.

In Matlab help, the left listbox is classified by toolbox name so if you want to learn something about Image processing, just go directly to the Digital Image Processing Toolbox and read it. In each toolbox, it have fully definition and example so you will understand deeply how to use each function and how to create example. Please keep reading from the beginning until the end

You also can browse or search some keywords here: http://www.mathworks.com/help.html or simply go directly to Mathlab online help: http://www.mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/help/techdoc/ (I strong recommend this help for you, just read from Getting stared chapter first, it will help you know the way to learn, and make you love Matlab as well )

But you can also view PDF Files that reflect the most recent version of MATLAB and might describe features not available in earlier versions of the software.

• MATLAB Getting Started Guide
• Desktop Tools and Development Environment
• Data Import and Export
• Mathematics
• Data Analysis
• Programming Fundamentals
• MATLAB Programming Tips
• Object-Oriented Programming
• Graphics
• 3-D Visualization
• Creating Graphical User Interfaces
• Function Reference: Volume 1 (A-E) , Volume 2 (F-O), Volume 3 (P-Z)
• External Interfaces
• C/C++ and Fortran API Reference
• MAT-File Format
• MATLAB Release Notes

2. Learn from some Internet sources

By searching in the Internet with keywords: Matlab tutorials you can easily find out some great Matlab tutorial website but I still recommend some websites:

• http://edu.levitas.net/Tutorials/Matlab/ :This tutorial has been written for new users of Matlab and as a supplemental material to my lectures on control systems and other courses applying Matlab.
• http://blinkdagger.com/matlab

so start learning Matlab now.