Customer Reviews

Hahn and Attaway Bundle: Matlab: A Practical Introduction to Programming and Problem Solving

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I was a student at Boston University (BU) College of Engineering (EE). I felt the pain of having to learn and pick up MATLAB by myself because most programming classes focus on the popular languages (C/C++ and Java), which are in many ways different from MATLAB. MATLAB is a very useful computational tool, but many schools have failed in getting students to pick up MATLAB, mostly because MATLAB is used sporadically on certain courses and there wasn't really a textbook that catered toward first-time MATLAB users.

I have used and looked at over a dozen MATLAB textbooks throughout my undergrad study, and I can confidently say this is by far the best one for anyone to pick up MATLAB from scratch. More importantly, this is the only MATLAB textbook that I have come across that teaches the concept of programming so readers can pick up the basics and start writing their own scripts. Many MATLAB textbooks only teach how to use certain functions/features but fail terribly to impart the fundamentals of MATLAB - something that students really need to know so they can use MATLAB efficiently for their homework/projects/etc.

I was a tutor/teaching assistant for some engineering courses and headed a few MATLAB workshops for BU Students while in college. I wish this book were published earlier - it would have made many students' lives a lot easier.

I have a Ph.D. in geology and have used several flavors of command-line-based software for the last 15 years, but have never taken a course in programming. As such, I have developed limited skills at writing scripts and basic programs, and have a conceptual idea of how programming works, but usually rely on copying/modifying existing code snippets to get what I want. Documentation for such software commonly assumes the reader is a programmer, which sometimes poses problems if you don't understand certain terminology, and for figuring out how to really use various functions and/or correctly string them together in a program to accomplish a task. When I recently wanted to adopt some code written by a colleague, I realized I would have to learn to use MATLAB. Data manipulation in MATLAB is "similar to but different from" the other software I've used, and although I can parrot example commands, I really wanted to understand what I was doing. I found Attaway's "MATLAB: A Practical Introduction to Programming and Problem Solving", and based in large part on the customer review by E. Tan, I purchased it, and have not regretted the decision.

Attaway's Preface clearly explains that the "purpose of this book is to teach basic programming concepts and skills needed for basic problem solving, all using MATLAB as the vehicle." This book is not primarily aimed at computer science types or accomplished programmers who need to use MATLAB (although it might help make their MATLAB-specific code more efficient) - it's more oriented toward people who need to use MATLAB, but do not already know how to program.

Throughout the book, important terms are typeset in bold and clearly defined. The first section of the book covers basic programming concepts and MATLAB functions, and the second section covers the application of these concepts and functions to things like plotting, image processing, and math. More specifically, the first chapter introduces basic concepts such as what are variables, assignment statements, expressions, characters (text), and vectors and matrices. Subsequent chapters describe programming in MATLAB, starting with simple things like reading and writing files and progressively introducing more complicated concepts (if-else statements, for and while loops, debugging techniques, working with strings (text), etc.). So as you go, you're learning general programming concepts that will translate to other languages, and you're also familiarizing yourself with MATLAB specifically at the same time. There also are chapters on plotting, solving systems of linear algebraic equations, basic statistics, searching and sorting data, and advanced math (curve fitting, complex numbers, and calculus).

The text is straightforward and easy to read, with abundant examples. Sidebars offer quick opportunities to practice your understanding of each concept before moving on to the next one. The end of each chapter contains exercises that allow you to apply what you've learned to some practical sample problems, such as calculating wind chill factor. The author explains some of the differences in terminology between MATLAB and other languages, which will help people more easily apply the programming knowledge learned in this book to other languages (example: a vector in MATLAB is equivalent to what is called a one-dimensional array in other languages). User-defined functions (programs) are gradually described, starting with simple cases (calculating single values) and leading to more complex cases (functions that do tasks that do not return values, or return more than one value).

The physical presentation of the book is very nice - the pages are printed in color on semi-glossy paper, and there is ample room in the margins for notes. I used this margin space to note a case where the MATLAB function in my version of the software differs slightly in name and usage from the one in the book (the author notes that this may be the case depending on the version of MATLAB you're running and the platform on which you're running it).

I'm working my way through the book on my own, and find it easy to do; I imagine it would be quite accessible to undergraduates and graduate students as a supporting text in an analytical methods course using Matlab, or as the primary text for an intro course on using MATLAB in engineering and science.

First, a disclosure: I know the author and am a colleague at Boston University.

I used this book when it was still in draft form, to learn Matlab in support of my work as an engineering professor and as an academic researcher. I was trained in Fortran in the late 70's, and had no other significant experience in programming. Nevertheless, a recent new project required me to tackle some challenging problems involving significant matrix computation and instrument control. Matlab was the best language choice for the task, and Stormy's book was my guide. In spare time, a half hour at a time, the book led me through a painless but powerful introduction to the language. I found the examples to be flawlessly presented, and richly informative.

Since completing this book I have integrated Matlab into my teaching and my research, and am grateful to have had Stormy's clear, concise, well-paced introduction as my launchpad.

As a biomedical engineer, I tend to use MATLAB to run numbers and simulations fairly often. Different programming approaches are used for different tasks, and I tend to forget about some of the more quick and easy ways to accomplish those goals. This book, with its range of simple to fairly detailed examples, is a wonderful resource for doing just that - learning to use MATLAB in a quick and easy manner. It can be used as an introduction or as a quick reference to the programming language. Also, at under $50 it is extremely well priced when compared to modern scientific/academic literature, which tends to be in the $100-200 range.

I certainly recommend this book to anyone from beginner programmers to those seeking a way to best refresh their MATLAB knowledge!

I've actually took a course about MATLAB with the professor who wrote this textbook. In fact, she used us to test the book before it went into publication. Let me say that this textbook is wonderful. If you have never programmed before, it actually teaches you how to program while teaching you MATLAB. Recommended for everybody who wants to learn MATLAB and especially for those who don't have any programming background..

I was a reviewer for the book while it was being edited. I liked it then and the author has only improved on her original manuscript. The organization is great for people trying to learn MATLAB, starting out with the basics of MATLAB and expanding it into a full programming language. The quick questions are great for checking for understanding.

The entire book is written in small managable sections that are easily processed and understood. This book is great for new MATLAB learners.

It does have a fantastic index that would make it a valuable reference for a casual MATLAB programmer. Parts of it (primarily the early chapters) might be a little elementary for hardcore MATLAB programmers to use as a reference book, but overall the book is really strong.

Great choice for students with little formal background in programming. Easy to use, quick to learn, esp. if you're teaching yourself.

Pros:

* Does not assume programming knowledge
* Logical progression introducing concepts, with plenty of handholding
* Good practice problems that re-enforce theory

Cons:

* Introduced built-in MATLAB functions that were not compatible with MATLAB 2009a for Macintosh
* Downloadable MATLAB examples contained some errors

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Many MATLAB books assume that the reader has a good knowledge of programming concepts. Help in MATLAB can be cryptic. This book is a savior to someone who wants to learn MATLAB, but knows little else. Not only does Stormy Attaway provide much handholding to teach you MATLAB, mathematical concepts are also presented, either as a brief introduction or to refresh your memory. The practice problems allowed application of theory, reinforcing the text material.

The only few very minor criticisms I have about the book are that some functions introduced in the book were not compatible with MATLAB 2009a for Macintosh. These included "randint", "xlsread", and "xlswrite". I later found out by myself that the "randi" built-in function could be used instead of "randint", and the latter two functions did not work on the Macintosh. Although the MATLAB code in the book was almost completely free or errors, the same could not be said about the downloadable MATLAB example code, which accompanies the book. Some downloaded code was completely different from what was on the book, although if the reader were careful, it wasn't a big deal to spot errors and retype the code.

This was the first book I found that helped someone like myself, who is weak in programming skills, to understand finally how MATLAB works and how to use the program. I have gained confidence now to understand other people's MATLAB code, and to write my own scripts and functions!

I am a graduate student pursuing my Ph.D. in chemistry. As part of my research I need to develop programs to make calculations more convenient. Since MATLAB is widely used in science and engineering, it is beneficial to have a working knowledge of the programming language. I would recommend this book strongly to anyone that would like to learn how to program in MATLAB, regardless of programming background. It takes an approach that is easily understood for those experienced in programming or those that are new to the field altogether.

This book came at the right time for me as I had taught myself matlab 10 years ago in graduate school and now have the need for it again. This book provided a very good primer for what I needed and showed me new functions and existing useful tools I wasn't aware of. It now sits on my desk as a very valuable reference, marked up and pages folded.

The book is what the title says, "An Introduction ..." It's an introduction so if you're looking for advanced matlab toolbox usage or programming techniques this might not be the book. But if you are a programmer not familiar with Matlab you'll have no problem going through this book very quickly while feeling like it was well worth it.

It is presented with good logical flow and practice exercises.

Highly recommend if you are new to Matlab or need a refresher.