MATLAB Exam Review: Arrays, Functions, Logic, and Branching

Practice vocabulary flashcards covering MATLAB arrays, indexing, function calling, rounding errors, built-in functions, logical operators, and branching test cases based on the exam review lightning round.

Index

The location of a number in an array.

Element

The value of a number in an array.

Calling a Function

Writing a line of code to use a function. This always involves using the function's name to access the function code, and usually requires providing inputs and declaring output variables.

Array Information Types

The three kinds of information contained in an array: values (elements), locations (index), and orientation (i.e., vertical or horizontal).

Rounding Error

An error that occurs when the result of a calculation is so big that it exceeds the maximum possible value of a data system (e.g., rounding to $\text{inf}$ in the double system, or adding $100$ and $200$ in an $8\text{ bit}$ integer data type to result in $255$, the maximum possible value in that data type).

Built-in max Function

A built-in MATLAB function that returns the maximum value in an array and the index where it is located; for the array $[3, 4, -4, 5, 1, -4, -2, 1, 5, 5]$, it returns $[5, 4]$.

Built-in min Function

A built-in MATLAB function that returns the minimum value in an array and the index where it is located; for the array $[3, 4, -4, 5, 1, -4, -2, 1, 5, 5]$, it returns $[-4, 3]$.

Built-in length Function

A built-in MATLAB function that returns the number of elements in an array; for the array $[3, 4, -4, 5, 1, -4, -2, 1, 5, 5]$, it returns $[10]$.

mod Function

A built-in function used to project numbers into a modular system—such as mapping all angles into the range of $0$ through $359$—to handle inputs less than $0$ or greater than $360$ (going backward into negative numbers yields higher values, where $-1$ is $359$).

Logical OR Operator (||)

A logical operator that evaluates whether at least one condition is true; in conditional branching, it can replace multiple separate branch conditions that yield the same output value.

Boundary Test Cases

Specific input cases evaluated directly at branch transition points (such as $r_1 = \text{pitch}(0)$, $r_2 = \text{pitch}(90)$, $r_3 = \text{pitch}(180)$, $r_4 = \text{pitch}(270)$, and $r_5 = \text{pitch}(360)$) to verify that conditional statements behave correctly across all defined regions.