Glossary
- Page ID
- 84556
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)| Words | Description |
|---|---|
| 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. |