Learning numerical analysis and mathematics from interactive computing

Many concepts of numerical analysis and mathematics can be learned most readily in an interactive computing environment. The program MATLAB was developed to provide such an environment. MATLAB, an interactive computer program, serves as a convenient ´laboratory´ of computations involving matrices. It provides easy access to matrix software developed by the LINPACK and EISPACK projects. The capabilities range from standard tasks such as solving simultaneous linear equations and inverting matrices, through symmetric and nonsymmetric eigenvalue problems, to fairly sophisticated matrix tools such as the singular value decomposition.