After launching MATLAB, a graphical user interface will appear on the screen. I am using MATLAB R2017a. If you are using different version, the interface may be different. However, the difference will not cause any confusion. Because we will focus on the essential components only. In a nutshell, you need to be familiarized with the following components:
- Action Menu,
- File System,
- Workspace and
- Command Window.
There are three tabs in the action menu. They are – Home, Plot and Apps. We do not need to learn about every elements of these menus. It is better to learn by using them. On the left-hand side there is a column. The first element of the column is the ‘File System’. Here, you will see the current directory, files and folders. This window is labeled as ‘Current Folder’. Right the ‘Current Folder’ window, there is another window labeled as ‘Details’. It shows the details of selected files and folders. Whatever you select any file or folder in the ‘Current Folder’ window, the ‘Details’ window will show the all information about the that file or folder. Below the ‘Details’ window, there is another window labeled as ‘Workspace’. It shows the variables and their values. On the right-hand side of the column, there is a large window labeled as ‘Command Window’. This is the window where we will perform our calculation.
The basic components have been illustrated in the following figure. There are many other basic components. We will learn about them eventually. For the time being, having idea about the following components is enough.
Now, we know about the MATLAB’s graphical user interface. Our next task is to use the MATLAB as a calculator.
