OPTI 280

1/08

OPTI 280. Computer Programming Workshop (1) II. An introduction to computer programming and the use of Matlab to perform scientific and engineering calculations.  

Course Objectives:

Understand the basic concepts of computer programming and numerical analysis methods.  Be able to use MatLab effectively to solve a wide variety of mathematical and physical problems. Be able to write computer programs that solve mathematical and engineering problems and understand the basic ideas of statistical analysis and error propagation.

Topics Covered:  

• Program statements, variables, operators, functions and input/output

• Program structure, computer program debugging

• Vector variables, creating plots and graphs

• Relational operators, if...end structures, and for loops

• Switch structures and while loops

• Elementary statistical analysis and histograms

• Error propagation and statistical correlation

• Data import and export, and curve fitting

• Computer-aided symbolic algebra, integration, and differentiation

• Numerical differentiation, round-off errors and numerical precision

• Numerical integration

• Numerical solution of differential equations

Office Hours:

• Open-door policy. You may stop by with questions at any time.

Grading:

• Weekly programming exercises  60%
• In-class quizzes  40%

Students are required to purchase the student version of MATLAB and use it on their own computer. 

Required Texts:

Marc E. Hemiter, Programming in MATLAB, Brooks/Cole, 2001

OPTI 280 Class Notes, MATLAB Tutorial, Spring 2008