Octave Tutorial
Information is from this wonderful course.
Basic operations
%% Change Octave prompt
PS1('>> ');
%% Change working directory in windows example:
cd 'c:/path/to/desired/directory name'
%% Note that it uses normal slashes and does not use escape characters for the empty spaces.
%% elementary operations
5+6
3-2
5*8
1/2
2^6
1 == 2 % false
1 ~= 2 % true. note, not "!="
1 && 0
1 || 0
xor(1,0)
%% variable assignment
a = 3; % semicolon suppresses output
b = 'hi';
c = 3>=1;
% Displaying them:
a = pi
disp(a)
disp(sprintf('2 decimals: %0.2f', a))
disp(sprintf('6 decimals: %0.6f', a))
format long
a
format short
a
%% vectors and matrices
A = [1 2; 3 4; 5 6]
v = [1 2 3]
v = [1; 2; 3]
v = 1:0.1:2 % from 1 to 2, with stepsize of 0.1. Useful for plot axes
v = 1:6 % from 1 to 6, assumes stepsize of 1 (row vector)
C = 2*ones(2,3) % same as C = [2 2 2; 2 2 2]
w = ones(1,3) % 1x3 vector of ones
w = zeros(1,3)
w = rand(1,3) % drawn from a uniform distribution
w = randn(1,3)% drawn from a normal distribution (mean=0, var=1)
w = -6 + sqrt(10)*(randn(1,10000)); % (mean = -6, var = 10) - note: add the semicolon
hist(w) % plot histogram using 10 bins (default)
hist(w,50) % plot histogram using 50 bins
% note: if hist() crashes, try "graphics_toolkit('gnu_plot')"
I = eye(4) % 4x4 identity matrix
% help function
help eye
help rand
help help
Moving Data Around
%% dimensions
sz = size(A) % 1x2 matrix: [(number of rows) (number of columns)]
size(A,1) % number of rows
size(A,2) % number of cols
length(v) % size of longest dimension
%% loading data
pwd % show current directory (current path)
cd 'C:\Users\ang\Octave files' % change directory
ls % list files in current directory
load q1y.dat % alternatively, load('q1y.dat')
load q1x.dat
who % list variables in workspace
whos % list variables in workspace (detailed view)
clear q1y % clear command without any args clears all vars
v = q1x(1:10); % first 10 elements of q1x (counts down the columns)
save hello.mat v; % save variable v into file hello.mat
save hello.txt v -ascii; % save as ascii
% fopen, fread, fprintf, fscanf also work [[not needed in class]]
%% indexing
A(3,2) % indexing is (row,col)
A(2,:) % get the 2nd row.
% ":" means every element along that dimension
A(:,2) % get the 2nd col
A([1 3],:) % print all the elements of rows 1 and 3
A(:,2) = [10; 11; 12] % change second column
A = [A, [100; 101; 102]]; % append column vec
A(:) % Select all elements as a column vector.
% Putting data together
A = [1 2; 3 4; 5 6]
B = [11 12; 13 14; 15 16] % same dims as A
C = [A B] % concatenating A and B matrices side by side
C = [A, B] % concatenating A and B matrices side by side
C = [A; B] % Concatenating A and B top and bottom
Computing on Data
%% initialize variables
A = [1 2;3 4;5 6]
B = [11 12;13 14;15 16]
C = [1 1;2 2]
v = [1;2;3]
%% matrix operations
A * C % matrix multiplication
A .* B % element-wise multiplication
% A .* C or A * B gives error - wrong dimensions
A .^ 2 % element-wise square of each element in A
1./v % element-wise reciprocal
log(v) % functions like this operate element-wise on vecs or matrices
exp(v)
abs(v)
-v % -1*v
v + ones(length(v), 1)
% v + 1 % same
A' % matrix transpose
%% misc useful functions
% max (or min)
a = [1 15 2 0.5]
val = max(a)
[val,ind] = max(a) % val - maximum element of the vector a and index - index value where maximum occur
val = max(A) % if A is matrix, returns max from each column
% compare values in a matrix & find
a < 3 % checks which values in a are less than 3
find(a < 3) % gives location of elements less than 3
A = magic(3) % generates a magic matrix - not much used in ML algorithms
[r,c] = find(A>=7) % row, column indices for values matching comparison
% sum, prod
sum(a)
prod(a)
floor(a) % or ceil(a)
max(rand(3),rand(3))
max(A,[],1) - maximum along columns(defaults to columns - max(A,[]))
max(A,[],2) - maximum along rows
A = magic(9)
sum(A,1)
sum(A,2)
sum(sum( A .* eye(9) ))
sum(sum( A .* flipud(eye(9)) ))
% Matrix inverse (pseudo-inverse)
pinv(A) % inv(A'*A)*A'
Plotting Data
%% plotting
t = [0:0.01:0.98];
y1 = sin(2*pi*4*t);
plot(t,y1);
y2 = cos(2*pi*4*t);
hold on; % "hold off" to turn off
plot(t,y2,'r');
xlabel('time');
ylabel('value');
legend('sin','cos');
title('my plot');
print -dpng 'myPlot.png'
close; % or, "close all" to close all figs
figure(1); plot(t, y1);
figure(2); plot(t, y2);
figure(2), clf; % can specify the figure number
subplot(1,2,1); % Divide plot into 1x2 grid, access 1st element
plot(t,y1);
subplot(1,2,2); % Divide plot into 1x2 grid, access 2nd element
plot(t,y2);
axis([0.5 1 -1 1]); % change axis scale
%% display a matrix (or image)
figure;
imagesc(magic(15)), colorbar, colormap gray;
% comma-chaining function calls.
a=1,b=2,c=3
a=1;b=2;c=3;
Control statements: for, while, if statements
v = zeros(10,1);
for i=1:10,
v(i) = 2^i;
end;
% Can also use "break" and "continue" inside for and while loops to control execution.
i = 1;
while i <= 5,
v(i) = 100;
i = i+1;
end
i = 1;
while true,
v(i) = 999;
i = i+1;
if i == 6,
break;
end;
end
if v(1)==1,
disp('The value is one!');
elseif v(1)==2,
disp('The value is two!');
else
disp('The value is not one or two!');
end
Functions
To create a function, type the function code in a text editor (e.g. gedit or notepad), and save the file as "functionName.m"
function y = squareThisNumber(x)
y = x^2;
function [y1, y2] = squareandCubeThisNo(x)
y1 = x^2
y2 = x^3