What is MATLAB?

• Why use MATLAB?
  • Interactive display and debugging
  • Many useful pre-existing functions
  • You can create scripts and programs with No compilation!
  • Array based so can be very fast if programmed effectively
  • It's free! Unlike IDL (which is very similar), Caltech has a site license for MATLAB
• Why NOT use MATLAB?
  • Limited amount of memory - not allocated intelligently
  • Can be slow if not careful (i.e. use loops instead of arrays)
  • The new windows version is not very robust and can't be parallelized

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