matrix laboratory (MATLAB)
Matrix Laboratory (MATLAB) is a platform-independent and comprehensive software package for numerical mathematics. The name is derived from MATrix LABoratory. A special strength of the product lies in the vector and matrix calculation. The software is used to solve a wide variety of problems in the fields of electrical engineering, mechanics, control engineering and physics.
A first version of MATLAB was developed in the seventies at the University of New Mexico. In 1984, the company The MathWorks was founded, which then further developed and commercialized the software. Subdivided into a basic module and numerous extension packages, called toolboxes, MATLAB represents a comprehensive and flexible tool for the simultaneous solution of corresponding problems such as data acquisition, analysis and evaluation, as well as for numerical simulation.
In addition to the obligatory input and output functions and commands for program flow control, the basic module of MATLAB has a large number of mathematical functions, extensive two- and three-dimensional visualization options, object-oriented functionality for programming interactive user interfaces and interfaces to other programming languages such as the programming language C, Fortran, Java and hardware ( serial interface).
In addition, advanced toolboxes with extended functionality are offered. There are toolboxes for control engineering, signal processing and optimization. The Simulink toolbox, which provides a graphical interface for modeling and simulating physical systems using signal flow graphs, has a special position. In addition, there is Stateflow, a supplement to Simulink, with which finite state machines can be modeled and simulated.