Getting Started with MATLAB: A Quick Introduction for Scientists and Engineers

Like Mathematica and Maple, MatLab has now been around long enough to have a wide variety of custom plug in applications available, many free on the web (.M files are source/ASCII; .MAT are immediately executable binary files). Since MathWorks dropped Maple as a sub (graphic) engine and added MuPAD, MatLab's graphics (already the best) have been supercharged. The latest edition (2010) of Pratap's fine book picks up at release 6-- and MathWorks is now selling release 12+. The book is completely up to date. Oxford's update website for the book is not yet up for this release ([...]) at the time of this review, which is surprising since the book's been around for 16 years.Don't let the title mislead you-- because of its power, both MatLab and this beginner's guide are outstanding for ANY field that is vector process driven, or graphically intensive, including Neurology, Molecular Biology, Finance, and video game programming to name a few-- any field that is heavy on vectors and matrices, in fact (MatLab stands for MatrixLaboratory). Don't let the Matrix foundation scare you, however, because the popularity of this program has now brought it up to Mathematica and Maple level with symbolic math also (the SM toolbox comes with the student editions of the software), which means MatLab will not only process flat files from other sources (including C, Fortran and Java as well as Mathematica and Maple), but its own algebraic/symbolic calculation power is just as formidable as Mathematica once you learn it, with the added benefit of being able to breeze through 2D, 3D and even animation graphics.If you're in an advanced calculus, numerical analysis, Fourier, or even applications class, you'll love the graphics in this program, which are very intuitive, and Pratap does a great job hitting just the right starting points. It is a seamless transition from Pratap to MatLab's own online help documentation. Add plug ins from your own field, or discs and files available from publishers in many fields, and you've got the 1-2-3 punch to get really good, really fast, with this program.The astonishing thing about both this book and the program, is that you can approach as a user from any level of competence, because the program itself encompasses a progression from simple use as an application (like Excel), to user-defined functions (like macros or writing in Visual Basic), to actual object-level programming (yes, this also is a high level language with a DOS/Fortran/Unix/C++ like interface with program/file lines in which you also can write custom applications, and the software automatically compiles your coding and even seamlessly uses your own user-written functions like they were the program's own built-in functions!). For a beginner, this means you can get modules written specifically in your field, and this book and the program step you into using them right away, even if you do no programming at all.If your future field is math/graphics intensive (and even ODE's and PDE's are now thought of more as graphs than just functions), this book and familiarity with MatLab is a must. Even high level compiled applications programs (such as those used to program video games, and the Adobe matrix/vector code) dump back and forth between MatLab, which allows the user to see the underlying vectors to adjust input and output, without having to work at the polynomial level. The program is so user friendly, that you can animate functions that you don't even understand (ok, your unconscious will be doing Fourier transforms as your brain resonates with the graphics, but you don't have to be applying chain rules in your prefrontal cortex at the same time).This little guide is a MUST HAVE and great starting point if you're ready to supercharge your understanding of math graphically and via animation-- regardless of your field. And if you teach-- what a treat for your students to see what those functions and transforms look like when animated!

As an electrical engineering student with no previous MATLAB experience, I needed a guide to help me get up and running quick. This book does the trick.This book will not turn you into a MATLAB guru, nor teach you all the power user tricks and deep dark secrets of MATLAB. But it's not supposed to. It's a getting started guide. Says so right in the title. And for that, it's great. The clear writing and logical organization had me doing basic analysis and plotting in fairly short order. Recommended.

An ok beginning guide but I had a hard time figuring out functions that were listed online or part of toolbox extensions. Kindle Ed. would have been nice.

As somebody who was completely new to MATLAB, this book did a nice job of introducing me to it. It provides a good basic outlook of the program, with examples. The only reason I don't give it five stars is because some of the practice problems he has do not have solutions...to see if you did the code right.

Sticking with the scope of the book: the author creatively presented the topics of MATLAB, in a wonderful interactive manner (as if the reader is in an instructor-based MATLAB session). His focus on imporant points -(indicating his deep wide experience)-, greatly helps the reader in gaining time and enjoying navigating throughout examples & excercises of the book. Purchasing this book, was one of the most 'BINGO' choices of my life. I strongly recommend this book, for MATLAB beginners.

Do not buy this book. It is not Matlab, nor even C++ it's like a book bout a monkey who's learning matlab. Matlab is already outdated by C++.Matlab technically is a programming basic, which is also very complicated. There are different styles and techniques, after following how to do things from this book, I found that there are several versions and they are needed to completely check how they work.Matlab provides several useful tools to start off online. It's even better if you own the product it's free.Secondly There are better companion books. By companion books search elsewhere for a textbook written by a professor, if you still don't understand go hire a college student who is a computer programmer pay him minimum and have him explain matlab. If this does not help at all then...try a different career.

I purchased this as a supplementary text for a computational physics course and a computer applications course. So glad I did!!! It includes relevant examples for the sciences and got me started with matlab. My only computer programming before this was a light intro to R.

This book provides a fair introduction to the use of Matlab. However, the book continually refers the reader to the help menu in matlab (which is extensive and extremely useful itself) for further reading on a given topic. If I wanted to simply read the help menu, I would do that and save myself the money. I returned the book after working through 1 chapter.

Since it is related to my study ( engineering ) and had lot of useful examples, I found this book very useful and simple to understand.