This textbook takes you from the very first time you open MATLAB® through to a position where you can comfortably integrate this computer language into your research or studies. The book will familiarise you with the MATLAB interface, show you how to use the program´s built-in functions and carefully guide you towards creating your own functions and scripts so that you can use MATLAB as a sophisticated tool to support your own research.  A central aim of this book is to provide you with the core knowledge and skills required to become a confident MATLAB user so that you can find and make use of the many specialist functions and toolboxes that have been developed to support a wide range of biological applications.

Examples presented within the book are selected to be relevant to biological scientists and they illustrate some of the many ways the program can be incorporated into, and used to enhance, your own research and studies.

The textbook is a must-have for students and researchers in the biological sciences. It will also appeal to readers of all backgrounds who are looking for an introduction to MATLAB which is suitable for those with little or no experience of programming.

Introduction: What is Matlab and what can it be used for

Overview of Interface
Toolboxes
The basics using the command line: Element by element versus matrix multiplication
Multiplying and dividing arrays of data
Example 1: Next generation matrix models
Creating and using script files: Debugging scripts
Using the live editor
Accessing help
Exploring Matlab's in-built functions
Creating graphs and plots: Example 1: Introduction to the image processing toolbox
Example 2: Plotting ellipses, hyperbola and parabola (conic sections)
Anonymous functions
Creating separate function files: Example 1: solving a differential equation using ode45 using biological examples
Importing and exporting data: Example 1: reading spreadsheets using the command line and an application of linear algebra to statistical analysis of qpcr data
Matlab as a programming language: Introduction to using loops in your scripts
For loops
While loops.-  Combining loops and conditional statements.