| Getting Started | |
Introduction
This chapter provides a brief introduction to starting and quitting MATLAB, and the tools and functions that help you to work with MATLAB variables and files. For more information about the topics covered here, see the corresponding topics under Development Environment in the MATLAB documentation, which is available online as well as in print.
Starting MATLAB
On a Microsoft Windows platform, to start MATLAB, double-click the MATLAB shortcut icon 
on your Windows desktop.
On a UNIX platform, to start MATLAB, type matlab at the operating system prompt.
After starting MATLAB, the MATLAB desktop opens - see MATLAB Desktop.
You can change the directory in which MATLAB starts, define startup options including running a script upon startup, and reduce startup time in some situations.
Quitting MATLAB
To end your MATLAB session, select Exit MATLAB from the File menu in the desktop, or type quit in the Command Window. To execute specified functions each time MATLAB quits, such as saving the workspace, you can create and run a finish.m script.
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