Numerical Computing
Using
SCILAB
by
T K Rajan, Govt Victoria College, Palakkad
What is SciLab
• A programming language with a rich collection of numerical algorithms
• An Interpreted Language
• Handles various Data Types and user defined ones
• Dynamically compiles and link other languages like FORTRAN, C etc.
• It is a free software with source code
• It focuses on many areas of scientific computing covering algebra, calculus,
number theory, signal processing, statistic etc.
• It provides many graphic features like 2D, 3D plotting
• In SciLab everything is a matrix
• It is a case sensitive language
Where to get SciLab
Scilab binaries can be downloaded directly from the Scilab
homepage
http://www.scilab.org
http://www.scilab.org/download
Starting and exiting SciLab
Double Click SciLab Shortcut
scilab-5.2.2
Consortium Scilab (DIGITEO)
Copyright (c) 1989-2010 (INRIA)
Copyright (c) 1989-2007 (ENPC)
________________________________________
Startup execution:
loading initial environment
--> disp "hello"
hello
--> quit (to Exit from SciLab)
Online Help
• For online help type help at the command prompt
• Another method is type help followed by the name of
function of which help is required
-->help
-->help sqrt
<Tab> key provides intelli sense.
i.e. press Tab key after typing a letter or a word, a window of associated functions will popup
Simple data types
Numbers
Integer, floating-point, complex!
Strings
characters are strings of length 1
Booleans are T or F
Creating Real variables
• No need to declare a variable
• Variables are created when they are set
• The = symbol is used for assigning a value to
a variable
-->x=3
-->y=x*2
-->a=[1 2 3]
-->name=“Rajan”
Simple data types: operators
• + addition
• - substraction
• * multiplication
• / right division i.e. x/y
• \ left division i.e. x\y
• ^ power i.e. xy
• ** power (same as ^)
• ' transpose conjugate
Arrays and Matrices
Array:
-->a = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
(creates a one dimensional array and stored in a)
Matrix:
-->b=[1,2,3;2,3,4;3,4,5]
(creates a 3X3 matrix and stored in B)
-->c=[1;2;3]
(creates a column matrix)
Compound data types (2)
Dictionaries:
like an array indexed by a string
d = { "foo" : 1, "bar" : 2 }
print d["bar"] # 2
some_dict = {}
some_dict["foo"] = "yow!"
print some_dict.keys() # ["foo"]
Compound data types (3)
Tuples:
a = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
print a[1] # 2
empty_tuple = ()
lists vs. tuples:
lists are mutable; tuples are immutable
lists can expand, tuples can’t
tuples slightly faster
Compound data types (3)
Objects:
class thingy:
# next week’s lecture
t = thingy()
t.method()
print t.field
Built-in data structures (lists, dictionaries)
are also objects
though internal representation is different
Control flow (1)
if, if/else, if/elif/else
if a == 0:
print "zero!"
elif a < 0:
print "negative!"
else:
print "positive!"
Control flow (2)
Notes:
blocks delimited by indentation!
colon (:) used at end of lines
containing control flow keywords
Control flow (3)
while loops
a = 10
while a > 0:
print a
a -= 1
Control flow (4)
for loops
for a in range(10):
print a
really a "foreach" loop
Control flow (5)
Common for loop idiom:
a = [3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9]
for i in range(len(a)):
print a[i]
Control flow (6)
Common while loop idiom:
f = open(filename, "r")
while True:
line = f.readline()
if not line:
break
# do something with line
aside: open() and file()
These are identical:
f = open(filename, "r")
f = file(filename, "r")
The open() version is older
The file() version is the recommended
way to open a file now
uses object constructor syntax (next lecture)
aside 2: file iteration
Instead of using while loop to iterate
through file, can write:
for line in file:
# do something with line...
More concise, generally considered better
Control flow (7): odds & ends
continue statement like in C
pass keyword:
if a == 0:
pass # do nothing
else:
# whatever
Defining functions
def foo(x):
y = 10 * x + 2
return y
All variables are local unless
specified as global
Arguments passed by value
Executing functions
def foo(x):
y = 10 * x + 2
return y
print foo(10) # 102
Comments
Start with # and go to end of line
What about C, C++ style comments?
NOT supported!
Writing standalone scripts
Can execute any file like this:
% python myprog.py
Might want file to be directly executable, so...
at top of file, write this:
#! /usr/bin/env python
# code goes here...
Then make file executable:
% chmod +x myprog.py
% myprog.py
File naming conventions
python files usually end in .py
but executable files usually don’t have
the .py extension
modules (later) should always have
the .py extension
Strings and formatting
i = 10
d = 3.1415926
s = "I am a string!"
print "%d\t%f\t%s" % (i, d, s)
print "no newline",
Modules (1)
Access other code by importing modules
import math
print math.sqrt(2.0)
or:
from math import sqrt
print sqrt(2.0)
Modules (2)
or:
from math import *
print sqrt(2.0)
Can import multiple modules on one line:
import sys, string, math
Only one "from x import y" per line
Modules (3)
NOTE!
from some_module import *
should be avoided
dumps all names from some_module into
local namespace
easy to get inadvertent name conflicts this way
Modules (4)
Code you write in file foo.py is part of module
"foo"
Can import this code from within other files:
import foo
# code that uses stuff from foo
Command-line arguments
import sys
print len(sys.argv) # NOT argc
# Print all arguments:
print sys.argv
# Print all arguments but the program
# or module name:
print sys.argv[1:] # "array slice"
File I/O
f = file("foo", "r")
line = f.readline()
print line,
f.close()
# Can use sys.stdin as input;
# Can use sys.stdout as output.
