MATLAB Programming Techniques

Day 1 of 2

Structuring Data

Objective: Explore choices for storing data within a MATLAB application.

• Data types
• Concatenation and conversion
• Cell and structure arrays
• Extracting data

Managing Data Efficiently

Objective: Use common techniques for improving performance when storing, accessing, and processing data.

• Preallocation
• Vectorization
• Memory management
• Objects and classes

Utilizing Development Tools

Objective: Use integrated tools to manage code, diagnose problems, debug applications, and measure performance.

• Managing files with Projects
• Finding potential problems in code
• Debugging code
• Assessing code performance
• Using Source Control

Day 2 of 2

Creating Robust Applications

Objective: Create robust applications that withstand unexpected input and produce meaningful errors. Use built-in MATLAB functions and programming constructs, and employ standard techniques for handling error conditions.

• Creating flexible function interfaces
• Checking for warning and error conditions
• Working with the try-catch construct and MException objects

Structuring Code

Objective: Modularize code into readable and maintainable functions. Explore the different function types available in the MATLAB language and the tradeoffs associated with each type. See how function type affects the performance and reliability of the code.

• Private functions
• Local functions
• Nested functions
• Function handles
• Precedence rules
• Comparison of function types

Verifying Application Behavior

Objective: Create tests to verify that code meets requirements.

• Writing test scripts
• Running test scripts
• Using test functions

Appendix A: Creating a Toolbox

Objective: Package code and documentation into a custom toolbox for distribution to other users.

• Creating documentation
• Packaging the toolbox
• Distributing the toolbox