ELEC 2103
Simulation and Numerical Methods in
Engineering
Dr Mahyar Shirvanimoghaddam
mahyar.shm@sydney.edu.au
School of Electrical and Information Engineering
The University of Sydney, Australia
Lecture 2 — Programming in MATLAB
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Lecture outline
Programming in MATLAB:
I Structured programming
I Scripts and m-files (Moore Ch 2.4.)
I Functions and sub-functions (Moore Ch 6.)
I Boolean operators, flow control using if, elseif, else and
switch, case (Moore Ch 8)
I Loops using for, while, break, return... (Moore Ch 9)
I Application: Taylor series approximation
I Structured arrays struct and cell arrays cell (Moore Ch 11)
I C, Java, Python, MS Excel, etc.
Structured programming
I Any program can be created by breaking large programs into
smaller modules and imposing control structures on their
interaction.
I Typically implemented using a top-down approach, where
complex programming blocks are broken down into smaller
blocks: divide and conquer.
I Moreover, algorithms (formally defined) have control
structures that are comprised of only three categories of
operations:
I Sequential operations,
I Conditional operations, and
I Iterative operations (loops).
I Each of an algorithm’s modules has a single entry point and a
single exit point.
Structured programming
MATLAB is designed to encourage structured programming
through the use of m-files, which contain individual modules.
I Make use of variables that are kept local to each block:
MATLAB functions have restricted variable scope.
I Minimise the exchange of information between blocks:
MATLAB functions encourage the use of weakly coupled
modules.
I The use of global variables is discouraged.
I File structure can be exploited to organise code and reuse
modules at different point in the program.
Scripts (Moore, Ch 2.4)
I Typing in each command repeatedly is inefficient and
error-prone.
I A better option is to save these commands in a file.
I Scripts contain a list of operations to execute.
I Open the MATLAB editor by typing edit into the command
window, or choosing New-Script from the menu.
I MATLAB recognises files with extension ’.m’, called m-files.
% script1.m
% Plot two sinusoids
t = linspace(0,10,11);
v1 = sin(t);
v2 = cos((t/2?pi));
plot(t,v1)
hold on
plot(t,v2)
% script2.m
% Plot a sinusoid plus ...
noise
t = linspace(0,10,11);
v1 = sin(t);
% ?? add white noise ??
figure(2)
plot(t,v2)
hold on
plot(t,v1)
Scripts (Moore, Ch 2.4)
I Typing in each command repeatedly is inefficient and
error-prone.
I A better option is to save these commands in a file.
I Scripts contain a list of operations to execute.
I Open the MATLAB editor by typing edit into the command
window, or choosing New-Script from the menu.
I MATLAB recognises files with extension ’.m’, called m-files.
% script1.m
% Plot two sinusoids
t = linspace(0,10,11);
v1 = sin(t);
v2 = cos((t/2?pi));
plot(t,v1)
hold on
plot(t,v2)
% script2.m
% Plot a sinusoid plus ...
noise
t = linspace(0,10,11);
v1 = sin(t);
v2 = v1 + randn(size(v1));
figure(2)
plot(t,v2)
hold on
plot(t,v1)
The editor window and output
Functions (Moore Ch 6)
I Even more powerful are functions (often called ’methods’ in
other languages), which take arguments and return values.
I Functions start with the function keyword.
I Both scripts and functions are saved as m-files.
I They differ in the way they handle access to variables:
Variables defined within functions and not explicitly returned
are destroyed once the function is executed - i.e. limited scope.
Functions vs scripts
function v = ...
fxn1(a,omega,?,T)
% Generate a sinusoid
t = linspace(0,T,T/10+1);
v = a*sin(omega*t+?);
% script3.m
% Plot two sinusoids
v = fxn1(2,1/4,0,10);
figure(3)
plot(v)
hold on
plot(fxn1(1,1,pi/2,10))
Where is variable t?
Where do these files live?
Anonymous functions (Moore Ch 6.3)
I Functions can be defined in scripts - these are anonymous
functions.
I Anonymous functions are stored in the workspace, much like a
variable.
I Use the @ symbol to tell MATLAB that you are defining a
function.
I LHS assignemnt is a function handle used to evaluate the
function.
cos50 = @(t) cos(2*pi*50*t)
x = 0:0.001:1 ;
figure(4)
plot(x,cos50(x))
Function functions (Moore Ch 6.4)
I Function functions take are functions that take functions as
arguments.
I Not as confusing as they first seem!
figure(4)
fplot(cos50,[0,0.015])
fzero(cos50,0.006)
Sub-functions (Moore Ch 6.5)
I Sub-function are called by a function within the same m-file.
I Like variables defined within a function, they also have
restricted scope – only accessible within the primary function.
function [] = plot50hz(startT,endT,?)
% Plot sinusoids at 50hz with phase difference ?
x = startT:0.001:endT;
plot(x,cos50(x,?))
end % Need to explicitly end main fxn using subfxns
%% subfunctions
function y = cos50(t,?)
y = cos(2*pi*50*t+?) % Assume 50hz frequency
end
Code documentation
When building a program, it is imperative that you document
modules’ functionality as you write it or even better, before you
begin coding.
MATLAB has a few handy features to support this:
I In MATLAB, the first contiguous comment block after a
function keyword call is automatically interpreted as
function documentation.
I The function precis on first line is displayed in the Current
Folder Window under the function file name.
I The full comment block is displayed when you call
help.
Code commenting
Similarly, each step of a module can be commented, to explain the
operations being undertaken.
I Not every line needs to be commented, but it is good practise
to explain every logical step.
I Write your comments as you go, or even better, before you
begin coding.
Quiz time!
I Week 2 Quiz is available via MATLAB Grader.
I Please make sure to register into the MATLAB Grader course
created for this unit. You have already received the invitation
email.
Boolean logic and relational operators
I MATLAB comes armed with many relational operators, so
Boolean logic can be easily incorporated.
I Relations >, ≥, ==, ≤ and < have the usual meaning.
I All of these operator apply element-wise on vectors and
matrices.
I Additional operators for arrays include any and all
I String equivalence is tested with strcmp (same as C).
I Compound expressions use & (AND) and — (OR).
I Output is a Boolean variable ∈ {0, 1} — not a double.
I However, when applying algebraic operations to Booleans,
MATLAB automatically recasts them as doubles.
Conditional operations – if blocks
The syntax for if blocks is:
if expr1
statements1
elseif expr2
statements2
else
statements3
end
I expr is a relational test (like on the previous slide).
I If expr1 is true, statements1 is executed.
I If expr1 is false, expr2 is tested.
I Any number of elseif tests can be included.
I else is optional, but can only occur once at the end of the
block.
Iterative operations – for loops
The syntax of the for loop is:
for = expr
statements
end
I The columns of expr are stored one at a time in the
and then the statementsare executed.
I Commonly, expr is a row vector and variable is scalar.
I E.g. variable is n = 1:10
NOTE: Don’t use these to iterate over vectors and arrays
when an equivalent algebraic operation is available – loops are
much slower than vectorised operations in MATLAB.
Iterative operations – while loops
The syntax of the while loop is:
while expr
statements
end
I For the while loop to complete, statements must change a
value in expr
I These loops are best used when you don’t know how many
iterations a process will take to complete.
Verification and unit testing
It is essential that you verify that your code does what is intended.
I Unit testing is a method for testing if code is fit for use.
I Unit test should be carried out in isolation of the rest of the
program’s modules.
I A simple approach is to make use of mock cases, which you
can independently test by hand or otherwise know the solution
to (e.g. by inputing extreme values).
I For a more complicated function, a useful method is to build a
test harness, which explores the behaviour of a module in a
systematic and predictable way.
More flow control:
break, return, continue and
switch, cases blocks
I break, return, continue are used to interrupt the
normal flow of for and while loops.
I switch, cases blocks are used for complicated conditional
code execution, such as using numerical and string identifiers.
I You will see these in the labs.
Debugging
MATLAB is very good at accepting poorly specified code. This is
why unit testing is vital — identify problems before they disappear
from your view.
I Use breakpoints to check your code step by step.
I Print variables to the screen to check the computational
trace.
I Make use of its full range of visualisation features.
I Rely on your engineering judgement to ascertain if your
code is doing what you want.
Always remember, the computer doesn’t care, so there is no use
getting angry at it!
Steps to developing large programs
1. State the problem concisely.
2. Specify the data to be used by the program: this is the ”input”.
3. Specify the data generated by the program: this is the ”output”.
4. By hand, work through the steps used to calculate the output given
the input.
5. Break the program into modules, where each executes an important
step, or related set of operations, in the algorithm.
6. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each module.
7. Document the functionality of each module in the preamble of a
corresponding m-file.
8. Code the details of each module, commenting as you write.
9. Independently verify each module (i.e. build unit testing scripts).
10. Verify the operation of the entire program.
Quiz time! Taylor series approximation
Series expansions are used to calculate the value of many
trigonometric functions. For example, the value of cos(x) near 0
can be expressed as a Maclaurin series:
cos(x) =
x0
0!
− x
2
2!
+
x4
4!
− · · · =
∞∑
n=0
(−1)n
(2n)!
x2n
In practice, these functions’ values are approximated by truncating
the corresponding series at an appropriate level of accuracy.
Please go to MATLAB Grader to answer the Quiz question.
Cell arrays: cell (Moore Ch 11.4)
Cell arrays can store different types of data in the same container:
A = 'Archie Chapman' ;
B = 1:5;
C = B'*B;
% Curly braces construct cell arrays, or cell(r,c)
myCellarray = {A, B, C}
myCellarray =
’Archie Chapman’ [1x5 double] [5x5 double]
Cell arrays: different ways to access contents
myCellarray(2) % Returns contents as a cell array
ans = [1x5 double]
myCellarray{2} % Returns contents as their type
ans = 1 2 3 4 5
myCellarray{3}(4,3) % Round and curly braces
ans = 12
Applying functions to cell array contents
We often use cell arrays to store several data sets. There are two
main reasons for this:
I the datasets have different dimensions, or
I it is quicker to access cell array contents for large set of data.
Sometimes, we may wish to apply the same function to all data
entries in the cell array, e.g. to compute the max of several data
sets.
For this, use cellfun
C = {1:10, [2; 4; 6], []};
maximums = cellfun(@max, C)
ans = 10 6 NaN
Q: What do we call a function like cellfun?
Structure arrays: struct (Moore Ch 11.5)
Structure arrays can store different types of data in fields:
myStruct.name = A ; % Dot notation contructs structures
myStruct.vec = B ;
myStruct.mat = C ;
myStruct
myStruct = name: ’Archie Chapman’
myStruct = vec: [1 2 3 4 5]
myStruct = mat: [5x5 double]
Can also use syntax: struc('field1',value1,...) to add more
entries to the fields:
myStruct(2) = struct('name','Joe Bloggs', ...
'vec', 1:4, ...
'mat', [1,2;3,4] )
Advanced MATLAB programming tips
For your information only —
The following functionality is available through MATLAB:
I Object-oriented programming, classes and objects.
I Calling external functions, such as C, Java and Python.
I MATLAB API for calling MATLAB from other languages.
I Communicate with web services, e.g. scrape data and
download files.
I Source control integration, e.g. git.
I And so on...

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