MATLAB has become a prevalent resource within engineering schools and companies, and as a result, many texts and references are available to help users successfully navigate the software. This section outlines various resources that are available either for free or for a cost by both MathWorks and third-party publishers. This guide can be used as a resource to find help using MATLAB within this course, for later in coursework, and/or job functions. The remainder of the appendix will list resources that are available along with discussions of their function, availability, and the author’s opinions of each text.

MathWorks Website

MathWorks’ website contains a variety of resources intended to aid MATLAB users as they navigate the software. As MathWorks profits when engineers use their software, the company provides many resources to ensure engineers can most effectively use the software and are able to find help when needed. The MathWorks website contains extensive documentation about the MATLAB program, various pdfs of textbooks, and several interactive training courses which can be used to gain fundamental skills with MATLAB or even to obtain certifications after completing courses. These resources are detailed below.

MATLAB Documentation

The MATLAB documentation page serves as a resource to look up specific functions of the MATLAB software. Within the documentation page for MATLAB, a user can select broad topics critical to MATLAB which directs the user to more specific webpages addressing introductory resources, language fundamentals, graphics resources and examples, and more. Searching “MathWorks Documentation MATLAB” into a search engine will return a link to MathWork’s robust and well-organized documentation. This is an exceptionally convenient way to review fundamental aspects of MATLAB such as the syntax of specific commands, how to use commands within a code, and more complex graphics or graphical user interface operations.

If the user is unsure of the section of the documentation that contains the information they need, the search tool within the documentation will usually bring the user to the page discussing the application of specific functions in MATLAB. This feature is invaluable when researching a predetermined function, but the documentation tool is limited when the user does not know what function they need to complete a task. Without knowing the name of the desired function, the documentation program is limited.

MathWorks documentation serves as a valuable tool to learn more about functions covered in this course and/or in previous classes. Specific articles within the documentation page contains lists of each function that can be used to accomplish an operation of interest. For example, the documentation page regarding line plots, which is nested under the “Graphics” and “2D and 3D Plots” pages, discusses not only functions like plot but other variations such as plot3 or stairs, which enable 3D plots or stairstep graphs, respectively. For the most detailed pages discussing specific functions, selecting specific functions, which should appear as blue hyperlinks, will direct the user to pages dedicated to examples of syntax and situations for a function.

A Practical Introduction to Programming and Problem Solving By: Stormy Attaway

Recommended by some professors is Attaway’s introductory MATLAB textbook which is a thorough guide to MATLAB. Any semester-long course is unable able to discuss all the details behind why code works the way it does and how nuances of functions make them operate. This text discusses the introductory topics discussed in this chapter, but in greater detail, which may assist students in understanding why the code they write works.

Many professors will not refer to the book directly within their classes but will rather recommend that students purchase the book as supplementary material. I believe this book fulfills this role well and provides a comprehensive and up-to-date discussion of MATLAB at a moderate cost. For students who are interested in understanding nuances of the coding language, this book is excellent.