(What Are Strings?

)
A string is an array of characters
Strings have many uses in MATLAB
Display text output
Specify formatting for plots
Input arguments for some functions
Text input from user or data files

(Creating Strings)
We create a string by typing characters within single

quotes (').
Many programming languages use the quotation

mark (") for strings. Not MATLAB!

Strings can have letters, digits, symbols, spaces.
To type single quote in string, use two consecutive

single quotes, e.g., make the string of English

"Greg's car" by typing

'"Greg''s car"'
Examples:

'ad ef', '3%fr2', '{edcba:21!',

'MATLAB'
2

You can assign string to a variable, just like

numbers.
>> name = 'Sting'
name =
Sting
>> police = 'New York''s finest'
police =
New York's finest

In a string variable
Numbers are stored as an array
A one-line string is a row vector
Number of elements in vector is number of

characters in string
>> name = 'Howard the Duck';
>> size( name )
ans =
1 15
4

Strings are indexed the same

way as vectors and matrices
Can read by index
Can write by index
Can delete by index

Example:
>> word = 'dale';
>> word(1)
ans = d
>> word(1) = 'v'
word = vale
>> word(end) = []
word = val
>> word(end+1:end+3) = 'ley'
word = valley

MATLAB stores strings with multiple lines as

an array. This means each line must have
the same number of columns (characters).
>> names = [ 'Greg'; 'John' ]
names =
Greg
John
>> size( names )
ans =
2 4
8

Problem
4
characters
'Greg';

>> names = [
using ==> vertcat

3
characters
'Jon'
]???

Error

CAT arguments dimensions are not

consistent.
Must put in extra characters (usually spaces) by hand
so that all rows have same number of characters
>> names = [ 'Greg'; 'Jon ' ]
Greg
Jon

Extra space

(String Padding)
Making sure each line of text has the same number of characters is a big pain.
MATLAB solves problem with char function, which pads each line on the right
with enough spaces so that all lines have the same number of characters.
>> question=char('Romeo, Romeo,','Wherefore art thou', 'Romeo?')

question =
Romeo, Romeo,
Wherefore art thou
Romeo?
>> size (question)
ans =
3 18

10

R o m e o ,

W h e r

e f

R o m e o ,

o r

a r

h o u

R o m e o ?

Three lines of text stored in a 3x18 array.

MATLAB makes all rows as long as
longest row.
First and third rows above have enough
space characters added on ends to make
each row 18 characters long.
11

Array Operators
A.* B
multiplies each element in array A times the
corresponding element in array B
A./B
divides each element in array A by the corresponding
element in array B
A.^B
raises each element in array A to the power in the
corresponding element of array B

Addition and Subtraction

Use + to add two arrays or to add a scalar to an

array.
Use to subtract one array from another or to

subtract a scalar from an array.

When using two arrays (vectors or matrices),

they must both have the same dimensions

(number of rows and number of columns).
Vectors must have the same dimensions (rows

and columns), not just the same number of

elements (1x5 is not the same as 5x1).

13

Addition and Subtraction

When adding two matrices A and B, MATLAB
adds the corresponding elements, i.e.,
It adds the element in the first row and first

column of A to the element in the first row

and column of B.
It adds the element in the first row and

second column of A to the element in the

first row and second column of B.
Etc...

This called elementwise addition.

14

Addition and Subtraction

When subtracting two arrays A
and B, MATLAB performs an
elementwise subtraction.
In general, an operation
between two arrays that works
on corresponding elements is
called an elementwise
operation.
15

Addition and Subtraction

When adding a scalar to an
array, MATLAB adds the scalar
to every element of the array.
When subtracting a scalar
from an array, MATLAB
subtracts the scalar from
every element of the array.
16

Array Multiplication
There are two ways of multiplying matrices
matrix multiplication and elementwise
multiplication.
MATRIX MULTIPLICATION
The type used in linear algebra.
MATLAB denotes this with an asterisk (*).
The number of columns in the left matrix

must be same as number of rows in the

right matrix.
17

Matrix Multiplication

18

Matrix Multiplication

19

>> A = randi(3,3)
A =
3

>> B=randi(3,3)
B =
3

>> AB = A*B
AB =
15

18

12

17

19

13

13

14

12

>> BA = B*A
BA =
19

16

12

11

11

21

18

18

>> AB == BA
ans =
0

20

Vector Multiplication
When performing matrix multiplication on
two vectors:
They must both be the same size.
One must be a row vector and the other a

column vector.
If the row vector is on the left, the product

is a scalar.
If the row vector is on the right, the product

is a square matrix whose side is the same

size as the vectors.

21

Vector Multiplication Examples

>> h = [ 2 4 6 ]
h =
2

>> v = [ -1 0 1 ]'
v =
-1
0
1

>> h * v
ans =
4
>> v * h
ans =
-2
0
2

-4
0
4

-6
0
6

22

Scalar (Dot) Product

dot(a,b) computes the
inner (scalar) product.
a and b must be of the same

size.

Any combination of vertical

or horizontal vectors.
Result is always a scalar.

EXAMPLE
>> h = [ 2 4 6 ]
h =
2
4
6
>> v = [ -1 0 1 ]'
v =
-1
0
1
>> dot(h,v)
ans =
4
>> dot(v,h)
ans =
4
23

Description

C = dot(A,B) returns the scalar product of the vectors A and

B. A and B must be vectors of the same length. When A and
B are both column vectors, dot(A,B) is the same as A'*B.
For multidimensional arrays A and B, dot returns the scalar
product along the first non-singleton dimension of A and B.
A and B must have the same size.
Examples
The dot product of two vectors is calculated as shown:
a = [1 2 3]; b = [4 5 6];
c = dot(a,b)
c = 32

24

Cross Product
cross(a,b) computes the

cross product of two vectors. .

It results in a vector which is
perpendicular to both and
therefore normal to the plane
containing them. It has many
applications in mathematics,
physics, and engineering.

More info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cros
s_product

EXAMPLE
>> a = [ 1 2 0 ]
a =
1 2 0
>> b = [3 4 0 ]
b =
3 4 0
>> cross(a,b)
ans =
0 0 -2

25

Description

C = cross(A,B) returns the cross product of the vectors A

and B.
That is, C = A x B.
A and B must be 3-element vectors.
Examples
The cross and dot products of two vectors are calculated as
shown:
a = [1 2 3]; b = [4 5 6];
c = cross(a,b)
c = -3 6 -3
d = dot(a,b)
d = 32

26

Identity Matrix
A square matrix with ones on main diagonal
and zeros elsewhere.
When we do a matrix multiplication on any

array or vector with the identity matrix, the

array or vector is unchanged.
True whether multiply with identity matrix is

on the left or on right

MATLAB command

identity matrix

eye(n) makes an nn
27

Determinants
A determinant is a function associated
with square matrices
In math, determinant of A is written as

det(A) or |A|
In MATLAB, compute determinant of A

with det(A)
A matrix has an inverse only if it is

square and its determinant is not zero.

28

Determinants Example
with Cross Product

29

In math, inverse of a matrix A is written as A1

In MATLAB, get inverse with A^-1 or

inv(A)

30

Left division, \:
Left division is one of MATLAB's two kinds of array
division
Used to solve the matrix equation AX=B
A is a square matrix, X, B are column vectors
Solution is

X = A-1B

In MATLAB, solve by using left division operator (\),

i.e.,
>> X = A \ B

31

When solving set of linear equations, use

left division, not inverse, i.e., use X=A\B
not X=inv(A)*B
Left division is
2-3 times faster
Often produces smaller error than inv()
Sometimes inv()can produce erroneous

results

32

Right division, /:
Right division is the other kind of MATLAB's
array division
Used to solve the matrix equation

XC=D

C is a square matrix, X, D are row vectors

Solution is

X = DC-1

In MATLAB, solve by using right division

operator (/), i.e.,
>> X = D / C

33

34

Array Division

35

Element by Element Operations

Another way of saying elementwise
operations is element-by-element
operations.
Addition and subtraction of arrays is

always elementwise.
Multiplication, division, exponentiation

of arrays can be elementwise.

Both arrays must be same dimension.
36

Element by Element Operations

Do elementwise multiplication,
division, exponentiation by
putting a period in front of the
arithmetic operator.

37

Element by Element Operations

38

Page 73 of text book!

39

ELEMENTWISE MULTIPLICATION
Use .* to get elementwise multiplication (notice

period before asterisk)

Both matrices must have the same dimensions
>> A = [1 2; 3 4];
>> B = [0 1/2; 1 -1/2];
>> C = A .* B
>> C =
0

3 -2
40

If matrices not same dimension in elementwise

multiplication, MATLAB gives an error:
>> A = [ 1 2; 3 4];
>> B = [1 0]';
>> A .* B % Meant matrix multiplication!
??? Error using ==> times
Matrix dimensions must agree.
>> A * B % this works
ans =
1
3
41

Element by Element Operations

Be careful when multiplying square
matrices:
Both types of multiplication always work.
If you specify the wrong operator,

MATLAB will do the wrong computation

and there will be no error!
Difficult to find this kind of mistake.

42

EXAMPLE
>> A = [1 2; 3 4];
>> B = [0 1/2; 1 -1/2];
>> A .* B
>> ans
0

3 -2
>> A * B
ans =
2.0000

-0.5000

4.0000

-0.5000

43

Using Arrays in Matlab Built-in Functions

Built-in MATLAB functions can accept arrays as inputs
When input is array, output is array of same size with

each element being result of function applied to

corresponding input element
Example: if x is a 7-element row vector,

cos(x) is

[cos(x1) cos(x2) cos(x3) cos(x4) cos(x5)

cos(x6) cos(x7)]

44

BUILT-IN FUNCTIONS FOR ANALYZING ARRAYS

MATLAB has lots of functions for

operating on arrays. For a vector v
mean(v) mean (average)
max(v) maximum value, optionally with

index of maximum ([C,I] = max(v))

min(v) minimum value, optionally with index

of minimum ([C,I] = min(v))
sum(v) sum
sort(v) elements sorted into ascending

order

45

BUILT-IN FUNCTIONS FOR ANALYZING ARRAYS

median(v) median
std(v) standard deviation
dot(v,w) dot (inner product); v, w both

vectors of same size but any dimension

cross(v,w) cross product; v, w must both

have three elements but any dimension

det(A) determinant of square matrix A
inv(A) inverse of square matrix A
See Table 3-1 in text book for details

on the preceding functions.

46

47