September+23

__September 23__ Before today, I read the 1st chapter of the MatLab manual. It covered the following:
 * Running the MatLab IDE
 * Editor Window- where programs are written
 * Figures Window-shows graphics related to entered numerical quantities
 * Variable Window- lists values for variables entered
 * Manipulating Windows- how to organize and navigate the three windows that are open in the work space on MatLab.
 * By using tabs, you can toggle between screens. You can choose between the browser, directory, and figure window.
 * The suggested layout is to have the workspace, command, and editor screens open.
 * MatLab Variables
 * How to store numbers using name, class(type), and current value.
 * Variable assignment statements
 * setting an equation or value equal to a variable using = assigns that value to the variable
 * //variable name = expression//
 * Variable Names
 * variable names are case-sensitive, must begin with a letter, composed of letters, numbers, and underscores. No punctuation can be used to name a variable.
 * Variable Workspace
 * the commands in this section allow the user to manage the variable workspace.
 * the commands clear or save the variables in the workspace, identify all defined variables, and loads variables into the workspace
 * Numbers and functions
 * the length of values shown can be control with simple commands
 * large and small numbers can be entered with scientific notation
 * complex numbers can be calculated using //i//.
 * expression can be entered into MatLab using commands on pages 11 and 12
 * Documentation
 * using help//subject// and doc//subject//, you can search helpful documents in MatLab
 * Writing simple MatLab scripts
 * script= most basic form of a program
 * Important Features of Scripts
 * Block structure
 * Appropriate variable names
 * Useful comments
 * Units
 * Formatting for clarity
 * Basic display command
 * when writing a script, plan it on paper first and remember that error messages are good- they tell you where you messed up so that you don't have to search
 * when programming write pieces at a time and check them before going on
 * Using a debugger
 * runs through your program line by line to check for errors