Introduction to MATLAB

A quick tutorial on MATLAB and the most important features that one uses in Macroeconomics or for Dynare.

Video

Topics

• Default layout of MATLAB
• Interacting with the command window
• Interacting with the workspace window
• Command history
• Preferences
• Creating scripts
• Basic computations
• Calling built-in functions
• MATLAB is a matrix language, i.e. check your dimensions!
• Element-wise computations
• Comments
• Matrix left divide to solve systems of linear equations
• Looking at the help of a function
• Functions can have both several inputs as well as several outputs
• Difference between mldivide and inv
• MATLAB is case sensitive
• Different types of variables
• Additional toolboxes
• Toolboxes commonly used in Macroeconomics and Econometrics
• How to look for and get help
• Initialize arrays of any dimension
• Change values in arrays
• Empty vector can delete stuff in arrays
• Writing user functions
• Very basic plot
• if statements
• Difference between error and warning
• for loop
• Terminate busy computations

References

• Brandimarte (2006, Appendix A) - Numerical Methods in Finance & Economics A MATLAB based Introduction - Paolo Brandimarte
• Miranda, Fackler (2002, Appendix B) - Applied Computational Economics and Finance