Getting Started

Vectorization

To obtain the most speed out of MATLAB, it's important to vectorize the algorithms in your M-files. Where other programming languages might use for or DO loops, MATLAB can use vector or matrix operations. A simple example involves creating a table of logarithms.

• x = .01;
  for k = 1:1001
     y(k) = log10(x);
     x = x + .01;
  end
  

A vectorized version of the same code is

• x = .01:.01:10;
  y = log10(x);
  

For more complicated code, vectorization options are not always so obvious. When speed is important, however, you should always look for ways to vectorize your algorithms.

The eval Function

Preallocation