Programming and Data Types

Computing with Multidimensional Arrays

Many of MATLAB's computational and mathematical functions accept multidimensional arrays as arguments. These functions operate on specific dimensions of multidimensional arrays; that is, they operate on individual elements, on vectors, or on matrices.

Operating on Vectors

Functions that operate on vectors, like sum, mean, and so on, by default typically work on the first nonsingleton dimension of a multidimensional array. Most of these functions optionally let you specify a particular dimension on which to operate. There are exceptions, however. For example, the cross function, which finds the cross product of two vectors, works on the first nonsingleton dimension having length three.

Note    In many cases, these functions have other restrictions on the input arguments - for example, some functions that accept multiple arrays require that the arrays be the same size. Refer to the online help for details on function arguments.

Permuting Array Dimensions

Operating Element-by-Element