Free MATLAB for HS Students: Can You Use It?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the availability and affordability of MATLAB for high school students, exploring whether they can use it for free or if alternatives exist. Participants also discuss the merits of MATLAB compared to other software like Octave, Julia, and Freemat.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants inquire about the possibility of high school students using MATLAB for free.
  • Others mention that MATLAB Student is available for $50, which they argue is affordable for most students.
  • There are claims that once purchased, the student version can be used as long as the user remains a student, with potential re-authentication required after a couple of years.
  • Some participants suggest using Octave as a free alternative, noting its similar syntax to MATLAB and the ability to run some codes without modification.
  • One participant expresses a preference for MATLAB, citing its popularity and job market relevance.
  • Another participant raises the point that popularity may not be a significant factor in choosing software.
  • Julia is introduced as a newer language that rivals MATLAB, with claims about its speed and integration capabilities, though it lacks corporate support.
  • Freemat is mentioned as another free alternative that is similar to MATLAB but may not have all core functions.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing opinions on the necessity and value of MATLAB versus free alternatives like Octave and Julia. There is no consensus on which software is superior or more appropriate for students.

Contextual Notes

Participants discuss various software options without resolving the debate over their relative merits or the implications of software popularity in the job market.

lonely_nucleus
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I am interested in doing some MATLAB programming but I cannot afford to buy the software. Can HS students use MATLAB for free?
 
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According to their website:
Q. Who can buy and use MATLAB Student?

A. MATLAB Student and the Student Suite are for students only. Any student who is currently enrolled in a degree-granting institution, high school, or continuing education program is eligible to purchase these products. High school teachers can also purchase and use the software for teaching purposes.

The student version is only 50$, so I wouldn't say it's out of anyone's price range with a little saving.
 
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axmls said:
According to their website:The student version is only 50$, so I wouldn't say it's out of anyone's price range with a little saving.
GEE WIZ! than you for doing research for me friend, $50 is not a lot of money for a software like matlab! Do you know if I have to renew the license every year?
 
Once you buy it, you can use it for as long as you're a student. They may require more authentication after a couple of years to ensure you're still enrolled in high school/a university, but otherwise, there's no need to renew it.
 
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lonely_nucleus said:
I am interested in doing some MATLAB programming but I cannot afford to buy the software. Can HS students use MATLAB for free?
If I were you I'd go with octave. It isn't MATLAB but its syntax is so similar that some codes can run on both programs without any modification. And it's free.
Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Octave, https://gnu.org/software/octave/.
I see no reason why you would want to pay for MATLAB when there's octave around.
 
fluidistic said:
If I were you I'd go with octave. It isn't MATLAB but its syntax is so similar that some codes can run on both programs without any modification. And it's free.
Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Octave, https://gnu.org/software/octave/.
I see no reason why you would want to pay for MATLAB when there's octave around.
I am biase towards matlab. If it only costs $50 for a genuine copy then I will pay for it soon.
 
lonely_nucleus said:
I am biase towards matlab.

Why? Octave really is not worse than matlab.
 
micromass said:
Why? Octave really is not worse than matlab.
matlab is more popular. I see it as having windows or linux, although linux is good for security windows is my choice because of the compatibality conveniences.
 
lonely_nucleus said:
matlab is more popular. I see it as having windows or linux, although linux is good for security windows is my choice because of the compatibality conveniences.

Why does more popular matter exactly?
 
  • #10
micromass said:
Why does more popular matter exactly?
More jobs use MATLAB I think, friend why do you have to argue over my oppinion? I do not think I will change it, I am sorry.
 
  • #11
There is a relatively new language to rival MATLAB called Julia that you should check out. There are several tutorials on Youtube covering its features. The language syntax is very similar to MATLAB and its speed is near C speeds and sometimes orders of magnitude faster than MATLAB. It also integrates well with Python and Fortran.

Here's the Julia website:

julialang.org

One other compelling item is the IJulia tool that leverages the IPython notebook IDE. You can see it in action in the Dave Sanders Julia tutorials.

Its free and open source and has a lot of support right now. What it doesn't have is the corporate support that MATLAB has.
 
  • #12
lonely_nucleus said:
More jobs use MATLAB I think, friend why do you have to argue over my oppinion? I do not think I will change it, I am sorry.

The differences between octave and MATLAB are minimal. So if you know one, then you know the other.
 
  • #13
There is also Freemat which is free and is very similar to MATLAB with many but not all core MATLAB functions. Its very easy for a student to install and learn matlab.

So now that we have agreed to disagree I will close this thread shortly.

Thanks for the discussion...
 

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