| Absolute error |
The difference between an approximation and an exact answer. |
| Abstraction |
The process of ignoring the details of how a function works in order to focus on a simpler model of what the function does. |
| Accumulator |
A variable that is used to accumulate a result a little bit at a time. |
| Analytic solution |
A way of solving an equation by performing algebraic operations and deriving an explicit way to compute a solution. |
| Apply |
A way of processing a vector by performing some operation on each of the elements, producing a vector that contains the results. |
| Argument |
An expression that appears in a function call to specify the value the function operates on. |
| Assignment statement |
A command that creates a new variable (if necessary) and gives it a value. |
| Body |
The statements inside a loop that are run repeatedly. |
| Call (a function) |
To cause a function to execute and compute a result. |
| Column vector |
A matrix that has only one column. |
| Command |
A line of MATLAB code executed by the interpreter. |
| Comment |
Part of a program that provides additional information about the program but does not affect its execution. |
| Compound statement |
A statement, like if and for , that contains other statements in an indented body. |
| Concatenation |
The operation of joining two vectors or matrices end-to-end to form a new vector or matrix. |
| Cross product |
A product of two vectors with norm %proportional to the norms of the vectors and the sine of the angle %between them, and direction perpendicular to both. |
| Differential equation (DE) |
An equation that relates the derivatives of an unknown function. |
| Directly (compute) |
A way of computing an element in a sequence without using previous elements. |
| dot product: |
A scalar product of two vectors, proportional to the %norms of the vectors and the cosine of the smallest angle between them. |
| Element (of a matrix) |
One of the values in a vector or matrix. |
| Element (of a sequence) |
One of the numbers in a mathematical sequence. |
| Elementwise |
An operation that acts on the elements of a vector or matrix (unlike some linear algebra operations). |
| Encapsulation |
The process of wrapping part of a program in a function in order to limit interactions (including name collisions) between the function and the rest of the program. |
| Evaluate |
To compute the value of an expression. |
| Existential quantification |
A logical condition that expresses the idea that ''there exists'' an element of a set with a certain property. |
| Expression |
A sequence of operands and operators that specifies a mathematical computation and yields a value. |
| First-order DE |
A differential equation that includes only first derivatives. |
| Floating-point |
A way to represent numbers in a computer. |
| Function |
A named computation; for example, log10 is the name of a function that computes logarithms in base 10. |
| Function call |
A command that executes a function. |
| Function handle |
A function handle is a way of referring to a function by name (and passing it as an argument) in MATLAB without calling it. |
| Generalization |
Making a function more versatile by replacing specific values with input variables. |
| Helper function |
A function in an M-file that is not the top-level function; it can only be called from another function in the same file. |
| Incremental development |
A way of programming by making a series of small, testable changes. |
| Index |
An integer value used to indicate one of the values in a vector or matrix (also called subscript in some MATLAB documentation). |
| Input variable |
A variable in a function that gets its value, when the function is called, from one of the arguments. |
| Interpreter |
The program that reads and executes MATLAB code. |
| Linear DE |
A differential equation that includes no products or powers of the function and its derivatives. |
| Logical function |
A function that returns a logical value (1 for ''true'' or 0 for ''false''). |
| Logical vector |
A vector, often the result of applying a logical operator to a vector, that contains logical values 1 and 0. |
| Loop |
A part of a program that runs repeatedly. |
| Loop variable |
A variable, defined in a loop, that gets assigned a different value each time through the loop. |
| M-file |
A file that contains a MATLAB program. |
| Matrix |
A two-dimensional collection of values (also called ''array'' in some MATLAB documentation). |
| Name collision |
The scenario where two scripts that use the same variable name interfere with each other. |
| Nested function call |
An expression that uses the result from one function call as an argument for another. |
| Nesting |
Putting one compound statement in the body of another. |
| Norm |
The magnitude of a vector, sometimes called ''length,'' but not to be confused with the number of elements in a MATLAB vector. |
| Numerical method |
A method (or algorithm) for generating a numerical solution. |
| Numerical solution |
A way of solving an equation by finding a numerical value that satisfies the equation, often approximately. |
| Operand |
A number or variable that appears in an expression along with operators. |
| Operator |
One of the symbols, like * and +, that represent mathematical operations. |
| Order of operations |
The rules that specify which operations in an expression are performed first. |
| Ordinary DE (ODE) |
A differential equation in which all derivatives are taken with respect to the same variable. |
| Output variable |
A variable in a function that is used to return a value from the function to the caller. |
| Pack |
To copy values from a set of variables into a vector. |
| Parameter |
A value that appears in a model to quantify some physical aspect of the scenario being modeled. |
| Partial DE (PDE) |
A differential equation that includes derivatives with respect to more than one variable. |
| Phase plot |
A plot that shows the state of a system as a point in the space of possible states. |
| Postcondition |
Something that will be true when the script completes. |
| Precondition |
Something that must be true when the script starts, in order for it to work correctly. |
| Projection |
The component of one vector that is in the direction of the other. |
| Prompt |
The symbols the interpreter prints to indicate that it's waiting for the user to type a command. |
| Range |
A matrix of values specified with the colon operator, for example, 1:5 . |
| Recurrently |
A way of computing the next element of a sequence based on previous elements. |
| Reduce |
A way of processing the elements of a vector and generating a single value, for example, the sum of the elements. |
| Relative error |
The difference between an approximation and an exact answer, expressed as a fraction or percentage of the exact answer. |
| Row vector |
A matrix that has only one row. |
| Scaffolding |
Code you write to help you program or debug, but which is not part of the finished program. |
| Scalar |
A single value. |
| Scientific notation |
A format for typing and displaying large and small numbers, e.g., 3.0e8, which represents 3.0 x 108 or 300,000,000. |
| Script |
An M-file that contains a sequence of MATLAB commands. |
| Search |
A way of processing a vector by examining the elements in order until one is found that has the desired property. |
| Search path |
The list of folders where MATLAB looks for M-files. |
| Sequence |
A set of numbers that correspond to the positive integers, in mathematics. |
| Series |
The sum of the elements in a sequence, in mathematics. |
| Shadow |
A kind of name collision in which a new definition causes an existing definition to become invisible. In MATLAB, variable names can shadow built-in functions (with hilarious results). |
| Side effect |
An effect, like modifying the workspace, that is not the primary purpose of a function or script. |
| Signature |
The first line of a function definition, which specifies the names of the function, the input variables, and the output variables. |
| Silent function |
A function that doesn't display anything, generate a figure, or have any other side effects. |
| Spatial vector |
A value that represents a multidimensional physical quantity like position, velocity, acceleration, or force. |
| State |
If a system can be described by a set of variables, the values of those variables are called the state of the system. |
| String |
A value that consists of a sequence of characters. |
| System of equations |
A collection of equations written in terms of the same set of variables. |
| Target |
The variable on the left side of an assignment statement. |
| Time step |
The interval in time between successive estimates in the numerical solution of a differential equation. |
| Top-level function |
The first function in an M-file; it's the only function that can be called from the Command Window or from another file. |
| Trajectory |
A path in a phase plot that shows how the state of a system changes over time. |
| Transpose |
An operation that transforms the rows of a matrix into columns (and the other way around). |
| Unit vector |
A vector with norm 1, used to indicate direction. |
| Universal quantification |
A logical condition that expresses the idea that all elements of a set have a certain property. |
| Unpack |
To copy the elements of a vector into a set of variables. |
| Value |
The result of a computation, most often a number, string, or matrix. |
| Variable |
A named value. |
| Vector |
A sequence of values. |
| Workspace |
A set of variables and their values. |
| Zero (of a function) |
An argument that makes the value of a function 0. |
