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