Programming and Data Types

MATLAB Classes and Objects

This chapter describes how to define classes in MATLAB. Classes and objects enable you to add new data types and new operations to MATLAB. The class of a variable describes the structure of the variable and indicates the kinds of operations and functions that can apply to the variable. An object is an instance of a particular class. The phrase object-oriented programming describes an approach to writing programs that emphasizes the use of classes and objects.

The following topics and examples are presented in this chapter:

• Classes and Objects: An Overview.
• Designing User Classes in MATLAB.
• Overloading Operators and Functions.
• Example - A Polynomial Class.
• Building on Other Classes.
• Example - Assets and Asset Subclasses.
• Example - The Portfolio Container.
• Saving and Loading Objects.
• Example - Defining saveobj and loadobj for Portfolio.
• Object Precedence.
• How MATLAB Determines Which Method to Call.

Historical Note - Evaluating Function Names

Classes and Objects: An Overview