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 1s
A bit is the most basic unit of computing and
0s
Has a value of 0 (false) or 1 (true)
Collections of bits called a word (e.g. 011 or 11010101)
Multiple bits can be strung together to form bigger units
Bytes (8 bits)
Kilobytes (1000 bytes)
Megabytes (1000 kilobytes)... etc

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 ABCs
Some Basic Data Types and
123s
Boolean
Single bit, 1 = true, 0 = false
Integer
Whole numbers
Signed (can be negative) or Unsigned (cant be negative)
Decimal
Real numbers
Characters
Letters (A B C x y z) and symbols (, . / ! ?)

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 ABCs
Data Types - Example and
123s
10010011
Unsigned integer 147
Signed integer -109
ASCII extended character
The point
We need to know what the 1s and 0s represent to make sense of them, use
computers for anything besides binary operations

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Problems 1 and 2

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 Programming
MATLAB Syntax - Variables

Variables are abstract representations of information

Variables will have a data type
Assigning values to variables in MATLAB
Use the symbol =
Put variable name to the left
Put value to the right
X = 2.8;
Y = 5000;
myLastInitial = B;
You can assign variables the values of other variables:
X = Y;
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 Programming
MATLAB Syntax and Style
Naming Variables
Rules:
No spaces my variable = 10;
No special characters #$*!@ = A;
Underscores OK
Cant start with numbers 1coolVariable = 42;
It can only help you to use descriptive variable names
Good:
itemWeight = 25;
lowest_common_denominator = 3;
Bad:
thingy = 1;
aaa = 111*thingy;

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 Programming
MATLAB Syntax - Semicolons

In general, you will want to put a semicolon (;) at the end of every line
of code that assigns a value to a variable
Suppresses output
Forgetting this
Wont stop your program from running
Will give you a headache

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 Programming
MATLAB Syntax Operators
Basic arithmetic
Addition (+): x = 1+1;
Subtraction (-): x = 2-6;
Multiplication (*): z = 400*10;
Division (/): oneThird = x/3;
Exponents
Use the carrot (^): twoSquared = 2^2;

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 Programming
MATLAB Style - Comments

Comments are an important component of good style, no matter the

programming language
Comments Text in a program that is ignored by the computer when
running
Denoted by %
Example:
%This is a comment. It helps everybody understand my program.

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 Programming
MATLAB Style Why?
%This simple script x = 20;
calculates the distance a y = 45;
vehicle can travel.
z = x * y;
gasTankSize = 20; %Gas tank
volume in gallons
fuelEfficiency = 45;
%Engine efficiency in miles
per gallon
distance = gasTankSize *
fuelEfficiency; %The range
of the vehicle
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