MATLAB Whats the best book/resource to learn MATLAB?

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The discussion centers on the best resources for learning MATLAB, emphasizing that practical experience is crucial. Many participants agree that while books can provide a foundational understanding, hands-on coding and using MATLAB's help files are more effective for mastering the software. A commonly mentioned resource is "MATLAB for Engineers," which has received positive reviews for covering the basics. Online tutorials and documentation are highlighted as valuable tools, with participants sharing specific links to helpful resources. The consensus is that engaging with the software through writing programs and solving real problems is the best approach to learning MATLAB, rather than relying solely on textbooks.
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Whats the best book/resource to learn MATLAB??

Whats the best book/resource to learn MATLAB??
 
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The best way to learn how to code or use MATLAB functions from my personal experience is simply looking through the help files and writing program that relate to your work.

Matlab is an incredibly big program and no one "knows" matlab; people are just competent at certain parts of the program i.e simulink.

I think getting a book on MATLAB may be good to see the general idea of how programs are written but as for actually learning to use MATLAB well, the book would probably not help much.
 


Well the thing is that I am just an EE student, and don't work as an EE so i can't think of anything that i would like to do with it now. But i know MATLAB is a must for engineers.
 


I am an EE student myself!
The way I am learning to use MATLAB right now is through my Linear signals and systems course. The labs require us to use MATLAB to do things like convolution, solving ODE's and finding Fourier coefficents etc.
From my experience, writing programs in MATLAB to do whatever you feel like is a better way of learning it.
 


bah still taking calc and physics :(
 


The best way to learn then, would be to start writing some simple programs when you have the time.

I remember seeing a book called Matlab for Engineers at one of my labs but I am not sure how good it is.There are also tons of tutorials available online.

Here is one that was provided by a TA at my university :
http://www.ee.ryerson.ca/~ieee/articles/MATLAB.html
 
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╔(σ_σ)╝ said:
The best way to learn then, would be to start writing some simple programs when you have the time.

I remember seeing a book called Matlab for Engineers at one of my labs but I am not sure how good it is.


There are also tons of tutorials available online.

Here is one that was provided by a TA at my university :
http://www.ee.ryerson.ca/~ieee/articles/MATLAB.html

Thanks for that link..

pst: is this the book? https://www.amazon.com/dp/0136044220/?tag=pfamazon01-20
 
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SuperMiguel said:
Thanks for that link..

pst: is this the book? https://www.amazon.com/dp/0136044220/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Yes, that's the one!

It seems to have gotten good reviews. Quickly looking over the reviews, the book seems to cover the basics pretty well which is what you are looking for. :)

Perhaps, you could pick up a copy at your schools library.
 
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Books aren't easy to learn from. The best way to learn a programming language is to write programs. If a book just gives you programs to write, I guess that helps, but you can find tons of these things online. All I ever use is documentation to look up certain functions or examples on how to do certain things.

You can read the book all you like but you'll need to be able to actually code sometime.
 
  • #10


My favorite tutorial:

http://www.myoops.org/twocw/usu/Civil_and_Environmental_Engineering/Numerical_Methods_in_Civil_Engineering/usufiles/MATLABforSCILABUsers.pdf

It is short and compact, one can simply ignore its title which can be misleading "MATLAB for SciLab users".
 
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  • #11


hadsed said:
Books aren't easy to learn from. The best way to learn a programming language is to write programs. If a book just gives you programs to write, I guess that helps, but you can find tons of these things online. All I ever use is documentation to look up certain functions or examples on how to do certain things.

You can read the book all you like but you'll need to be able to actually code sometime.

Either you are very very smart, Or you have never studied from a well designed programming textbook.
 
  • #12


I really haven't. I know HTML/CSS/PHP, C++, Java, FORTRAN, Python (a little bit because I use Sage), MATLAB, and I'm pretty well-versed in bash. I'll admit, though, I had to look at a MATLAB textbook because I was assigned homework problems from it. Other than that, I tried to learn from a PHP book around 4 or 5 years ago and I never got past the first section. Took it back to the library the same day. The real secret is just learning from example code. If you take it step-by-step, you begin to learn all the little tricks and quirks to the languages.

Google is your best friend.

EDIT: Oh, I had homework problems from a Java book too. Never used it to learn Java though.
 
  • #13


hadsed said:
Google is your best friend.

Haha, that's so true. I spent a year's industrial placement programming (wasn't told when I applied for it that it would just be VBA), and I learned more or less everything from Google and MSDN. If I did read any books, I don't even remember them now...
 
  • #14
Matlab has a wealth of tutorials online. They are excellent and comprehensive IMO. Start going through some of it and you'll start getting the hang of it.

http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/learn_matlab/bqr_2pl.html
 
  • #15


Yeah, what The Outsider said. They even have interactive video tutorials for the student version I'm using.
 

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