Matlab and Octave

Either Matlab or Octave will work just fine for the computer calculations in this course. Here is a guide to getting started.

Getting a copy

Matlab online is free to UAF students (I think)

This is available by using your @alaska.edu address. Go to www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/student.html and check for campus-wide access. You should get an email saying you can sign up for a Mathworks account. Once you are signed in, namely at matlab.mathworks.com, you can click on the Open MATLAB Online button. Because you use this through a browser, it may sometimes be slow because of internet issues.

Download the student version of Matlab

See www.mathworks.com/store/link/products/student/SV. I think this is free too, because of your @alaska.edu email.

Octave online is free

Go to octave-online.net and get started. Because you use this through a browser, it may sometimes be slow because of internet issues.

Download Octave … also free

I use an Octave executable on my Linux machines. There are executables for Windows and macOS; see the Download tab at www.gnu.org/software/octave/index.

Learning Matlab/Octave

My basic advice is to just start trying to use it as a calculator, and as a function plotter and such. Within a few days you’ll be used to the basic language.

Matlab/Octave are so natural for linear algebra that not much explanation is needed, but ask questions in class! Yes, I’m happy to answer “dumb syntax” questions. I have such questions all the time about new computer stuff! For new languages, everyone gets hung-up at some point on which symbols to type next.

However, if you want tutorials and videos, the Mathworks official material is great: www.mathworks.com/support/learn-with-matlab-tutorials.html.