MATLAB Data Types

MATLAB does not require any type declaration or dimension statement. Whenever MATLAB encounters a new variable name, it creates a variable and allocates appropriate memory space.

If a variable already exists, MATLAB will replace the original content with new content and allocate new storage space if necessary.

For example,

Total　=　42

The following statement creates a named “Total”1than1matrix, and assign values42stored in it.

Data types available in MATLAB

MATLAB provides15types of basic data types. Each data type stores data in matrix or array form. The size of this matrix or array can be as small as 0×0, and can grow to any size of matrix or array.

The following table shows the most commonly used data types in MATLAB-

Instance

Create a script file using the following code-

str　=　'Hello　World!'
n　=　2345
d　=　double(n)
un　=　uint32(789.50)
rn　=　5678.92347
c　=　int32(rn)

After compiling and executing the above code, the following results will be produced-

str　=　Hello　World!
n　=　　2345
d　=　　2345
un　=　790
rn　=　5678.9
c　=　　5679

Data type conversion

MATLAB provides various functions to convert values from one data type to another. The following table shows the data type conversion functions-

Determine data type

MATLAB provides various functions to identify the data type of variables.

The following table provides the function to determine the data type of variables-

Instance

Create a script file using the following code-

x =　3
isinteger(x)
isfloat(x)
isvector(x)
isscalar(x)
isnumeric(x)
　
x =　23.54
isinteger(x)
isfloat(x)
isvector(x)
isscalar(x)
isnumeric(x)
　
x = [1　2　3]
isinteger(x)
isfloat(x)
isvector(x)
isscalar(x)
　
x = 'Hello'
isinteger(x)
isfloat(x)
isvector(x)
isscalar(x)
isnumeric(x)

When running the file, it will produce the following results-

x =　3
ans = 0
ans =　1
ans =　1
ans =　1
ans =　1
x =　23.540
ans = 0
ans =　1
ans =　1
ans =　1
ans =　1
x =
　　　　　　　　　　1　　　　　　　　　　2　　　　　　　　　　3
ans = 0
ans =　1
ans =　1
ans = 0
x = Hello
ans = 0
ans = 0
ans =　1
ans = 0
ans = 0