software engineering

From what I've seen looking through the books available for MATLAB, they can be classed into three categories; 1) basic introductions to the use of the program, 2) introductions and how-to's on specific problem solving applications with MATLAB, and 3) programming guides/references. This book falls into category 1.

If you do not have access to the "Using MATLAB" manual, then this is a good substitute. in the preface the author says "The book is in two parts. Each part was originally a two-day course, designed assuming that students were seated at a computer with MATLAB running." So, if you don't have access to the manuals or the .pdf documentation for MATLAB, this book will fill that gap. However, it's explanations while concise and to the point are lacking in depth of explanation and do not provide any real comprehension of the underlying logic of how the application operates, as this book is essentially, the "Using MATLAB" manual distilled down to it's core. Rather, that type of understanding from this book can only be had by following along rote, and picking it up after having developed some experience with the application.

Also, if you are looking to learn about how to program in MATLAB at all, look elsewhere. While it does have exercises to work through and practice problems associated with each set of topics/lessons, It does not cover how to program in MATLAB in any substantial way. The real power of the application is it's ability to run programs written in the MATLAB language, and this book only touches on the individual components of that, and does not give any significant coverage at all to programming.

I also feel that for what it is this book is overpriced. While I haven't been able to evaluate other similar books on MATLAB, I haven't found this book to be any better than the application manuals/documentation. From what I've seen here on Amazon, there are other similar books to this one that are less costly, though I haven't had any experience with them.

I have recently ordered "Programming In MATLAB" by Marc E. Herniter and will post my review of it when I recieve it and am able to read through it thoroughly. Based on the preview pages shown here at Amazon, it is the exact opposite of this book and falls into category 3 above, spending very little time on the fundamentals of the program, and delving exclusively into the logic and methods of programming with MATLAB.

Overall, if you don't have the manuals, and can afford to shell out [$$] for a bare bones distillation of the MATLAB manual, then this book is for you. Otherwise, I'd recommend you look elsewhere, either for a book specific to MATLAB programming, or a cheaper basic introductory text.

I was first introduced to Matlab as part of a junior level signal processing course. Without any kind of introductory manual on using Matlab, I struggled through the course believing that it was a pain to use. Recently, needing to use Matlab again, I found Knight's book in my school library. It made a huge difference. After just a few hours with the book I felt like a Matlab wiz. This book covers the basics concisely, using plenty of examples, and also shows how easy it is to use more advanced features like graphical user interfaces. It also provides instruction for dowloading a library of useful m-files and demos. It is not a comprehensive reference but I couldn't recommend it more highly to a person who needs to learn to use Matlab or feels uncomfortable using it.

you'd get information about the Matlab programming