What is the best wayto teach myself Matlab

math8

I am a graduate student in Applied Math, and I need to know Matlab. What is the best way to teach myself. How long do you think it would take me to know the basics, and to be able to program in Matlab?

I don't really have any background in a Programming language. I have used Fortran, but that was a long time ago, and I don't remember much.

I have to say that I am a dedicated person, and I really want to learn.

Dr Transport

the online help is REALLY good, I would start there. From there, when you want to go further, google what you want to do and most likely you will find something close.

rsc42

I'm having to do the same thing.

I own several Matlab intros and references but the only one I've found really helped is Rudra Pratap's Getting Started with MATLAB. I used it to get the hang of arrays and basic operations. Once you have the basics, you can teach yourself and the rest kind of comes...pick a project that requires real script/function writing and just work through it using internet resources (google...), as Transport suggested. Every time you learn a new operation, you have to fiddle around with it a bit and then you get to add it to your toolbox.

If you don't feel like doing a project, this guy's class page is pretty extensive and extremely helpful, but only after I went through the first four or five chapters of Pratap:

Google: Math 241-2101 Multivariable Calculus, Fall 2002
(PF won't let me post a link...)

Hope that was helpful.

R

jhae2.718

Play around with MATLAB, and get intimately familiar with the online documentation: http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/

Additionally, MathWorks has a free textbook on numerical methods in MATLAB: http://www.mathworks.com/moler/index_ncm.html