Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore

Numerical Methods in Computing

Lectures By: Dr Taimoor Iqbal

Email: taimooriqbal@uet.edu.pk
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore

Course title: Numerical Methods in Computing

Credit hours: 3
Recommended book:

MATLAB An Introduction with Applications, 5th

Lecture By: Dr Taimoor Iqbal

Edition, Amos Gilat

Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore

Chapter 6
Programming in MATLAB
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore

In this chapter will study how to make

MATLAB programs run sections of code
• If something is true
• While something is true
• For a certain number of times
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore

Will also learn how to run different sections

of code depending on
• The value of a variable
• Which particular condition is true
• What combination of conditions is true
– If this and that are true
– If this or that is true, etc.
• What relationship two things have
– For example, one is less than the other; greater than;
equal to; not equal to; etc.
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

• Can't put space between operators that have two

characters
• "Not equal to" is "~=", not "!=" as in C or C++
• "Equal to" comparison is two equal signs (==), not
one.
– Remember, "=" means "assign to" or "put into"
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

• Result of comparing with a relational operator is

always "true" or "false"
 If "true", MATLAB gives the comparison a value of one
(1)
 If "false", MATLAB gives the comparison a value of zero
(0)
This may be different than convention in
other programming languages. For
example, C gives an expression that is
false a value of zero, but it can give a true
expression any value but zero, which you
can't assume will be one
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

When comparing arrays

• They must be the same dimensions
• MATLAB does an elementwise
comparison
• Result is an array that has same dimensions
as other two but only contains 1's and 0's
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

When comparing array to scalar

• MATLAB compares scalar to every member of

array
• Result is an array that has same dimensions
as original but only contains 1's and 0's
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

Example
>> x=8:12
x = 8 9 10 11 12
>> x>10
ans = 0 0 0 1 1
>> x==11
ans = 0 0 0 1 0
>> x>=7
ans = 1 1 1 1 1
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators
It helps to picture in your mind that the
result of a logical comparison
1. Is a vector
2. Has a 0 or 1 corresponding to each original
TIP
element
>> x=8:12
x = 8 9 10 11 12
>> x>10
ans = 0 0 0 1 1
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

If results of relational comparison

stored in a vector, can easily find the
TIP number of elements that satisfy that
comparison, i.e., that are true, by using
sum command, which returns sum of
vector elements
• Works because elements that are true
have value of one and false elements
have value zero
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

EXAMPLE
TIP
How many of the numbers from 1-20
are prime?
• Use MATLAB isprime command, which returns
true (1) is number is prime and false (0) if it isn't
>> numbers = 1:20;
>> sum( isprime(numbers) ) ans =
8
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

Can mix relational and arithmetic

operations in one expression
• Arithmetic operations follow usual
precedence and always have higher
precedence than relational operations
TIP • Relational operations all have equal
precedence and evaluated left to right
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

A logical vector or logical array is a

vector/array that has only logical 1's and
0's
• 1's and 0's from mathematical operations don't
count
• 1's and 0's from relational comparisons do work
• First time a logical vector/array used in
arithmetic, MATLAB changes it to a numerical
vector/array
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

Can use logical vector to get actual values

that satisfy relation, not just whether or
not relation satisfied. Doing this is called
logical indexing or logical subscripting
• Do this by using logical vector as index in vector of
values. Result is values that satisfy relation, i.e.,
values for which relationship are 1
• NOTE – technique doesn't quite work with arrays. Won't
discuss that case further
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

EXAMPLE
What are the numbers from 1-10 that are
multiples of 3?
>> numbers = 1:10
numbers = 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
>> multiples = rem( numbers, 3 ) == 0
multiples = 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
>> multiplesOf3 = numbers(multiples)
multiplesOf3 =
3 6 9
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

Example
Think of numbers(multiples) as pulling
out of numbers all elements that have a 1
in the corresponding element of
multiples
numbers = 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

multiples = 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0

numbers(multiples) = 3 6 9
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

EXAMPLE
What are the prime numbers from 1-20?
• >> numbers = 1:20;
• >> numbers( isprime(numbers) ) ans =
•2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19

• Logical indexing is particularly useful when

used with logical operators, discussed next
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators
Logical operators:

Boolean logic is a system for combining

expressions that are either true of false.
• MATLAB has operators and commands
to do many Boolean operations
• Boolean operations in combination with
relational commands let you perform
certain types of computations clearly
and efficiently
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators
A truth table defines the laws of Boolean
logic. It gives the output of a logical
operation for every possible
combination of inputs. The truth table
relevant to MATLAB is
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

In words, the truth table

says
• AND is true if both inputs are true,
otherwise it is false
• OR is true if at least one input is true,
otherwise it is false
• XOR (exclusive OR) is true if exactly one
input is true, otherwise it is false
• NOT is true if the input is false,
otherwise it is false
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

An arithmetic operator, e.g., + or -, is

a symbol that causes MATLAB to
perform an arithmetical operation
using the numbers or expressions on
either side of the symbol

Similarly, a logical operator is a character

that makes MATLAB perform a logical
operation on one or two numbers or
expressions
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

MATLAB has three logical operators: &,

|, ~
• a&b does the logical AND operation on a and b
• a|b does the logical OR operation on a or b
• ~a does the logical NOT operation on a
• Arguments to all logical operators are numbers
– Zero is "false"
– Any non-zero number is "true"
• Result (output) of logical operator is a logical one
(true) or zero (false)
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

When using logical operator on arrays

• They must be the same dimensions
• MATLAB does an element-wise evaluation of
operator
• Result is an array that has same dimensions
as other two but only contains 1's and 0's
(not only operates on one array so the
first point is irrelevant)
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

When operating with array and

scalar
• MATLAB does element-wise operation
on each array element with scalar
• Result is an array that has same
dimensions as original but only contains
1's and 0's
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

Can combine arithmetic, relational

operators, and logical operators. Order of
precedence is
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators
EXAMPLE
Child – 12 or less years
Teenager – more than 12 and less than 20 years
Adult – 20 or more years
>> age=[45 47 15 13 11]
age = 45 47 15 13 11
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators
EXAMPLE
Who is a teenager?
>> age=[45 47 15 13 11];
>> age>=13
ans = 1 1 1 1 0
>> age<=19
ans = 0 0 1 1 1
>> age>=13 & age<=19
ans = 0 0 1 1 0

These mark the two teenagers

6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

EXAMPLE
>> age=[45 47 15 1 11]
3
age = 45 47 15 13 11
Who is not a teenager?
>> ~(age>=13 & age<=19) ans = 1 1
0 1
0
Who is an adult or a child?
>> age>19 | age<13 ans = 1 1 0
0 1
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators
Built-in logical functions:
MATLAB has some built-in functions or
commands for doing logical operations
and related calculations. Three are
equivalent to the logical operators
• and(A,B) – same as A&B
• or(A,B) – same as A|B
• not(A) – same as ~A
6.1 Relational and Logical Operators

MATLAB also has

other Boolean
functions
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.2 Conditional Statements

A conditional statement is a command that

allows MATLAB to decide whether or not to
execute some code that follows the
statement
• Conditional statements almost always part of scripts
or functions
• They have three general forms
– if-end
– if-else-end
– if-elseif-else-end
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.2.1 The if-end Structure

A flowchart is a diagram that shows the code

flow. It is particularly useful for showing
how conditional statements work. Some
common flowchart symbols are
• represents a sequence of commands
• represents an if-statement
• shows the direction of code
execution
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.2.1 The if-end Structure

If the conditional expression is true, MATLAB runs the lines of

code that are between the line with if and the line with
end. Then it continues with the code after the end-line
33
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.2.1 The if-end Structure

If the conditional expression is false, MATLAB skips the lines of

code that are between the line with if and the line with
end. Then it continues with the code after the end-line
34
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.2.1 The if-end Structure

The conditional expression is true if it evaluates to a logical 1

or to a non-zero number. The conditional expression is false if
it evaluates to a logical 0 or to a numerical zero 35
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.2.2 The if-else-end Structure

if-else-end structure lets you execute one

section of code if a condition is true and a
different section of code if it is false.
EXAMPLE - answering your phone
if the caller is yourbest friend talk for a
long time
else
talk for a short time
end
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.2.2 The if-else-end Structure

Fig. 6-2 shows the code and the flowchart for

the if-else-end structure
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.2.3 The if-elseif-else-end Structure

if-elseif-else-end structure lets you

choose one of three (or more) sections of code
to execute
EXAMPLE - answering your phone
if the caller is your best friend talk
for a long time
elseif the caller is your study-mate
talk until you get the answer to the hard problem
else
say you'll call back later
end
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.2.3 The if-elseif-else-end Structure

Can have as many elseif statements as you want

EXAMPLE
if the caller is your best friend
talk for a long time
elseif the caller is a potential date
talk for a little bit and then set a time to meet
elseif the caller is your study-mate
talk until you get the answer to the hard problem
elseif the caller is your mom say you're busy and
can't talk
else
have your room-mate say you'll call back later
end
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.2.3 The if-elseif-else-end Structure

Fig. 6-3 shows the code and the flowchart for the
if-elseif-else-end structure
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.2.3 The if-elseif-else-end Structure

Can omit else statement

• In this case, if no match to if- or
elseif-statements, no code in
structure gets executed
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.3 The switch-case Statement

if-elseif-else-end structure gets hard

to read if more than a few elseif
statements. A clearer alternative is the
switch-case structure

• switch-case slightly different because

choose code to execute based on value of
scalar or string, not just true/false
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.3 The switch-case Statement

Concept is
switch name case
'Bobby'
talk for a long time
case 'Susan'
talk for a little bit and then set a time to meet
case 'Hubert'
talk until you get the answer to the hard problem
case 'Mom'
say you're busy and can't talk
otherwise
have your room-mate say you'll call back later
end
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.3 The switch-case Statement
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.3 The switch-case Statement

switch evaluates
switch-expression

– If value is equal to value1,

executes all commands up to next
case, otherwise,
or end statement, i.e., Group 1 commands, then
executes code after end statement
– If value is equal to value2, same as above but
Group 2 commands only
– Etc.
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.3 The switch-case Statement

• If switch-expression not equal

to any of values in case
statement, commands after
otherwise executed. If
otherwise not present, no
commands executed
• If switch expression matches more than one
case value, only first matching case executed
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.3 The switch-case Statement

Comparisons of text strings are case-

sensitive. If case values are text
strings, make all values either lower
TIP case or upper case, then use upper or
lower command to convert switch
expression
caller = lower( name );
switch caller
case 'bobby'
some code
case 'susan'
some code case 'mom' some code
end
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4 Loops

A loop is another method of flow control. A

loop executes one set of commands
repeatedly. MATLAB has two ways to control
number of times loop executes commands

• Method 1 – loop executes commands a specified

number of times
• Method 2 – loop executes commands as long as a
specified expression is true
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.1 for-end Loops

A for-end loop (often called a

for- loop) executes set of
commands a specified number of
times. The set of commands is
called the body of the loop
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.1 for-end Loops

Body of loop

• The loop index variable can have any

variable name (usually i, j, k, m, and n
are used)
– i and j should not be used when working
with complex numbers. (ii and jj are good
alternative names)
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.1 for-end Loops

Body of loop

1. Loop sets k to f, and executes commands

between for and the endcommands,
i.e., executes body of loop
2. Loop sets k to f+s, executes body
3. Process repeats itself until k > t
4. Program then continues with commands that follow end
command
• f and t are usually integers
• s usually omitted. If so, loop uses increment of 1
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.1 for-end Loops

Body of loop

• Increment s can be negative

– For example, k = 25:–5:10 produces four
passes with k = 25, 20, 15, 10
• If f = t, loop executes once
• If f > t and s > 0, or if f < t and
s < 0, loop not executed
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.1 for-end Loops

Body of loop

• If values of k, s, and t are such that k cannot

be equal to t, then
– If s positive, last pass is one where k has largest
value smaller than t
• For example, k = 8:10:50 produces five passes with
k = 8, 18, 28, 38, 48
– If s is negative, last pass is one where k has
smallest value larger than t
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.1 for-end Loops

Body of loop

• In the for command k can also be assigned

specific value (typed in as a vector)
– For example: for k = [7 9 –1 3 3 5]
• In general, loop body should not change value
of k
• Each for command in a program must have
an end command
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.1 for-end Loops

Body of loop

• Value of loop index variable (k) not

displayed automatically
– Can display value in each pass (sometimes
useful for debugging) by typing k as one of
commands in loop
• When loop ends, loop index variable (k)
has value last assigned to it
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.1 for-end Loops

Output
k = 1
x = 1
EXAMPLE Script k = 4
for k=1:3:10 x = 16
k k = 7
x = k^2 x = 49
end k = 10
x = 100
After loop k = 10
fprintf('After loop k = %d\n', k);
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.1 for-end Loops

Can often calculate something using either a for-loop or

elementwise operations.
Elementwise operations are:
• Often faster
• Often easier to read
• More MATLAB-like
TIP
GENERAL ADVICE – use
elementwise operations when you
can, for-loops when you have to
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.2 while-end Loops

while-end loop used when

• You don't know number of loop iterations
• You do have a condition that you can test and
stop looping when it is false. For example,
– Keep reading data from a file until you reach the
end of the file
– Keep adding terms to a sum until the difference
of the last two terms is less than a certain
amount
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.2 while-end Loops

1. Loop evaluates conditional-expression

2. If conditional-expression is true, executes
code in body, then goes back to Step 1
3. If conditional-expression is false, skips code in
body and goes to code after end-statement
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.2 while-end Loops

The conditional expression of a

while- end loop
• Has a variable in it
– Body of loop must change value of variable
– There must be some value of the variable that
makes the conditional expression be false
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.2 while-end Loops
Makes this output
x =
EXAMPLE 1
x =
2
x = 1 x =
while x <= 15 4
x = 2*x x =
end 8
x =
16
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.2 while-end Loops
If the conditional expression never
becomes false, the loop will keep
executing... forever! The book calls this
an indefinite loop, but more commonly
referred to as an infinite loop. Your
program will just keep running, and if
there is no output from the loop (as if
often the case), it will look like MATLAB
has stopped responding
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.2 while-end Loops
Common causes of indefinite
loops:
• No variable in conditional expression
distance1 = 1;
distance2 = 10;
distance3 = 0;
while distance1 < distance2 distance1 and distance2
fprintf('Distance = %d\n',ndevierschtaangnece3);
end
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.2 while-end Loops

Common causes of indefinite loops:

• Variable in conditional expression never changes
minDistance = 42;

distanceIncrement = 0; Typo – should be 10

distance = 0;
while distance < minDistance
distance=distance+distanceIncrement;
end
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.2 while-end Loops

Common causes of indefinite loops:

• Wrong variable in conditional expression
changed
minDistance = 42;
delta = 10;
distance = 0;
while distance < minDistance
minDistance = minDistance + delta;
end
Typo – should be distance
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.2 while-end Loops

Common causes of indefinite loops:

• Conditional expression never becomes false
minDistance = 42;
x = 0;
y = 0; Typo – shouldn't be
any negative sign
while -sqrt( x^2+y^2 ) < minDistance
x = x + 1;
y = y + x;
end
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.4.2 while-end Loops

If your program gets caught in an

indefinite loop,
• Put the cursor in the Command
Window
TIP • Press CTRL+C
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.5 Nested Loops and Nested Conditional Statements

If a loop or conditional statement is placed

inside another loop or conditional
statement, the former are said to be nested
in the latter.
• Most common to hear of a nested loop, i.e., a
loop within a loop
– Often occur when working with two-
dimensional problems
• Each loop and conditional statement must have an
end statement
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.5 Nested Loops and Nested Conditional Statements

EXAMPLE
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.6 THE break AND continue COMMANDS

The break command:

• When inside a loop (for and while), break
terminates execution of loop
– MATLAB jumps from break to end command
of loop, then continues with next command
(does not go back to the for or while
command of that loop).
– break ends whole loop, not just last pass
• If break inside nested loop, only nested
loop terminated (not any outer loops)
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.5 Nested Loops and Nested Conditional Statements

– break command in script or function

file but not in a loop terminates
execution of file
– break command usually used within a
conditional statement.
• In loops provides way to end looping if some
condition is met
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.5 Nested Loops and Nested Conditional Statements

EXAMPLE
while( 1 ) Trick – "1" is always true so it makes loopiterate forever!
name = input( 'Type name or q to quit: ', 's' );
if length( name ) == 1 && name(1) == 'q'
break;
If user entered only one
else Only way to exit loop!
letter and it is a "q", jump
fprintf( 'Your name is %s\n', name );
out of loop
end
end
Otherwise print name
Output for inputs of "Greg", "quentin", "q"
Type name or q to quit: Greg
Your name is Greg
Type name or q to quit: quentin
Your name is quentin
Type name or q to quit: q
>>
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.5 Nested Loops and Nested Conditional Statements
The continue command:

Use continue inside a loop (for- and while-) to

stop current iteration and start next iteration

 continue usually part of a conditional statement. When

MATLAB reaches continue it does not execute remaining
commands in loop but skips to the end command of loop
and then starts a new iteration
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore
6.5 Nested Loops and Nested Conditional Statements

EXAMPLE
for ii=1:100
if rem( ii, 8 ) == 0
Every eight iteration reset
count = 0; count to zero, print the
iteration number, and skip
fprintf('ii=%d\n',ii); the remaining
continue; computations in the loop

end
% code
% more code
end
Department of Mathematics, UET, Lahore

THE END