MATLAB Quick Reference

Analogy categoryAnalogies

This quick reference collects the MATLAB syntax you reach for constantly: array creation and indexing, control-flow keywords, function definitions, and the most commonly used built-in functions for I/O and data inspection. It is meant as a lookup sheet rather than a tutorial, useful for confirming exact syntax (is it elseif or else if? is it end or endfor?) rather than relearning concepts from scratch. Keep in mind that MATLAB is case-sensitive throughout, and every code block ends with the single keyword end, regardless of whether it closes a for, while, if, switch, or function.

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Cricket analogy: A wicketkeeper glances at a laminated field-placement card taped to their pad mid-match to confirm the agreed signal for a specific field change rather than relearning the whole strategy, similar to using a MATLAB quick reference to confirm exact syntax rather than relearning concepts.

Arrays, Indexing, and Operators

Arrays are created with square brackets, [1 2 3] for a row vector and [1;2;3] for a column vector, or [1 2; 3 4] for a 2x2 matrix using semicolons to separate rows. Indexing uses parentheses, not square brackets: A(2,3) accesses the element in row 2, column 3, A(:,1) selects the entire first column, and A(end,:) selects the last row using the special keyword end. Common operators split into matrix versions and elementwise versions: * is matrix multiplication while .* is elementwise multiplication, and the same distinction applies to / vs ./ and ^ vs .^, a distinction that trips up nearly every beginner at least once.

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Cricket analogy: A scorer records a shot's exact coordinates on the field, row and column of the grid, using a fixed notation system, similar to indexing a MATLAB matrix with A(row,col) using parentheses rather than square brackets.

matlab

% Arrays and indexing
v = [1 2 3 4 5];        % row vector
col = [1; 2; 3];        % column vector
A = [1 2; 3 4];         % 2x2 matrix
A(2,1)                  % -> 3 (row 2, col 1)
A(:,1)                  % -> [1;3] (entire first column)
v(end)                  % -> 5 (last element)

% Elementwise vs matrix operators
B = A .* A;              % elementwise multiply
C = A * A;               % matrix multiply

% Control flow
for i = 1:3
    if mod(i,2) == 0
        fprintf('%d is even\n', i);
    elseif i == 1
        fprintf('%d is one\n', i);
    else
        fprintf('%d is odd\n', i);
    end
end

% Function definition (in its own .m file or as a local function)
function y = square(x)
    y = x.^2;
end

Control Flow, Functions, and Common Built-ins

Control flow keywords are for, while, if/elseif/else, and switch/case, and every block, no matter which keyword opened it, closes with a single end. Functions are declared with function [out1, out2] = name(in1, in2), supporting multiple return values that the caller can selectively capture, for example [~, idx] = max(v) discards the max value and keeps only its index using the tilde placeholder. Common built-in functions worth memorizing include size(), length(), numel(), zeros(), ones(), linspace(), reshape(), sort(), find(), and for input/output, disp(), fprintf(), and the debugging pair save()/load() for persisting workspace variables to a .mat file between sessions.

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Cricket analogy: A captain calls for a DRS review but only cares about the final decision, not the ball-tracking details, similar to using [~, idx] = max(v) in MATLAB to discard the value and keep only the index.

The tilde ~ as a function output placeholder (e.g., [~, idx] = max(v)) was introduced in MATLAB R2009b and is the idiomatic way to discard an output you don't need without creating an unused variable; it also works as a placeholder for an input argument you intentionally ignore inside a function definition.

Row vectors use spaces or commas inside brackets ([1 2 3]); column vectors use semicolons ([1;2;3]); matrices combine both ([1 2; 3 4]).
Indexing uses parentheses, not square brackets: A(row,col), with A(:,1) selecting a whole column and A(end,:) selecting the last row.
Elementwise operators (.*, ./, .^) differ from matrix operators (*, /, ^); confusing the two is a very common beginner error.
Every control-flow block (for, while, if, switch, function) closes with the single keyword end, regardless of which keyword opened it.
Functions can return multiple outputs, e.g. function [out1,out2] = name(in1,in2), and the tilde ~ placeholder discards an unwanted output.
Core built-ins to know: size(), length(), numel(), zeros(), ones(), linspace(), reshape(), sort(), find().
save()/load() persist workspace variables to a .mat file, useful for checkpointing long-running scripts between sessions.