Frequently Asked Questions

Are the scripts/function files (.m files) in ACSII? Yes, they are plain ASCII text files. You can edit them with a simple editor like notepad. Do not try to edit them with a word processor (like MS-word). Files meant for word processors are by no means plain files since they contain a lot of mark-up (font type/size, pagination, edit history, etc) which are not always in ACSII, to make the document good looking. There many kinds of files that are ASCII other than .m files. Some of them are the matrix files that you save with a -ascii flag, html files (although they contain lots of mark-ups, since the ml in the html means mark-up language) and .csv files.

What are ASCII files? A file is nothing more than a sequence of bytes stored on the hard disk (or a USB key etc). Each byte can represent a number between 0 and 255. The ASCII standard maps these numbers to characters of the alphabet. So "A" is 65, "B" is 66, etc. It also represents a few control characters like "new line" which is 10, space which is 32, etc. Not all numbers map to some alphabet letter, digit, control character etc. A file that contains only bytes that map to some alphabet letter, digit, control character etc is called an ASCII file. These are easier to edit with simple tools on a great variety of computers. That's the reason we call them portable. You can view and edit an ASCII file from an 80's computer on your laptop today.

In what sense does the save command with the -ascii flag does not remember the shape of a matrix? If you run the following code

    A = rand(2,5);
    B = rand(3,5);
    save('junk', 'A', 'B', '-ascii');
    C = load('junk','-ascii')
    save('junk1', 'A', 'B');
    D = load('junk1');
    D.A
  

Do I need programming experience to do well in this course? No, the course is designed for students new to programming. Some experience always helps, like any other course, but it is not necessary.

When do the labs start? Please have a look at the dates entry, on the left.

What should I do to prepare for the first lab? 1. Play with matlab and practice with the code in the book and on this web site. 2. Study the material we covered so far.

Where can I run matlab? Computers in Ross S110 have matlab. You can also go to York Matlab Info for downloading it.

How do I visit this site? Go to eecs.lassonde.yorku.ca and click "Current Students", "Undergrads" then "Course Web Sites", "current term", then "1560".

What is the best way to talk to the Prof? Join the office hours (click on Contact to your left) in person or through zoom.

Will there be extra office hours for the midterm/final? Yes, the exact date and time will be announced a couple of days before.

Last Modified: Sep 5 2023