Computations in MATLAB Command Window vs.

MuPAD
Notebook App
When computing with Symbolic Math Toolbox, you can choose to work in the MATLAB

Command
Window or in the MuPAD

Notebook app. The MuPAD engine that performs all symbolic computations is the
same for both interfaces. The choice of the interface mostly depends on your preferences.
Working in the MATLAB Command Window lets you perform all symbolic computations using the familiar
MATLAB language. The toolbox contains hundreds of MATLAB symbolic functions for common tasks, such
as differentiation, integration, simplification, transforms, and equation solving. If your task requires a few
specialized symbolic functions not available directly from this interface, you can use evalin or feval to call
MuPAD functions. See Call Built-In MuPAD Functions from MATLAB.
Working in the MATLAB Command Window is recommended if you use other toolboxes or MATLAB as a
primary tool for your current task and only want to embed a few symbolic computations in your code.
Working in the MuPAD Notebook app requires you to use the MuPAD language, which is optimized for
symbolic computations. In addition to solving common mathematical problems, MuPAD functions cover
specialized areas, such as number theory and combinatorics. Also, for some computations the performance
is better in the MuPAD Notebook app than in the MATLAB Command Window. The reason is that the engine
returns the results in the MuPAD language. To display them in the MATLAB Command Window, the toolbox
translates the results to the MATLAB language.
Working in the MuPAD Notebook app is recommended when your task mainly consists of symbolic
computations. It is also recommended if you want to document your work and results, for example, embed
graphics, animations, and descriptive text with your calculations. Symbolic results computed in the MuPAD
Notebook app can be accessed from the MATLAB Command Window, which helps you integrate symbolic
results into larger MATLAB applications.
Learning the MuPAD language and using the MuPAD Notebook app for your symbolic computations provides
the following benefits.
Results Displayed in Typeset Math
By default, the MuPAD Notebook app displays results in typeset math making them look very similar to what
you see in mathematical books. In addition, the MuPAD Notebook app
Uses standard mathematical notations in output expressions.
Uses abbreviations to make a long output expression with common subexpressions shorter and easier to
read. You can disable abbreviations.
Wraps long output expressions, including long numbers, fractions and matrices, to make them fit the
page. If you resize the notebook window, MuPAD automatically adjusts outputs. You can disable
wrapping of output expressions.
Alternatively, you can display pretty-printed outputs similar to those that you get in the MATLAB Command
Window when you use pretty. You can also display outputs as plain text. For details, see Use Different
Output Modes.
In a MuPAD notebook, you can copy or move output expressions, including expressions in typeset math, to
any input or text region within the notebook, or to another notebook. If you copy or move an output expression
to an input region, the expression appears as valid MuPAD input.
Graphics and Animations
The MuPAD Notebook app provides very extensive graphic capabilities to help you visualize your problem and
display results. Here you can create a wide variety of plots, including:
2-D and 3-D plots in Cartesian, polar, and spherical coordinates
Plots of continuous and piecewise functions and functions with singularities
Plots of discrete data sets
Surfaces and volumes by using predefined functions
Turtle graphics and Lindenmayer systems
Animated 2-D and 3-D plots
Graphics in the MuPAD Notebook app is interactive. You can explore and edit plots, for example:
Change colors, fonts, legends, axes appearance, grid lines, tick marks, line, and marker styles.
Zoom and rotate plots without reevaluating them.
Display coordinates of any point on the plot.
After you create and customize a plot, you can export it to various vector and bitmap file formats, including
EPS, SVG, PDF, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, and JPEG. The set of the file formats available for exporting
graphics from a MuPAD notebook can be limited by your operating system.
You can export animations as AVI files (on Windows

systems), as animated GIF files, or as sequences of

static images.
More Functionality in Specialized Mathematical Areas
While both MATLAB and MuPAD interfaces provide functions for performing common mathematical tasks,
MuPAD also provides functions that cover many specialized areas. For example, MuPAD libraries support
computations in the following areas:
Combinatorics
Graph theory
Grbner bases
Linear optimization
Polynomial algebra
Number theory
Statistics
MuPAD libraries also provide large collections of functions for working with ordinary differential equations,
integral and discrete transforms, linear algebra, and more.
More Options for Common Symbolic Functions
Most functions for performing common mathematical computations are available in both MATLAB and MuPAD
interfaces. For example, you can solve equations and systems of equations using solve, simplify
expressions using simplify, compute integrals using int, and compute limits using limit. Note that
although the function names are the same, the syntax of the function calls depends on the interface that you
use.
Results of symbolic computations can be very long and complicated, especially because the toolbox
assumes all values to be complex by default. For many symbolic functions you can use additional
parameters and options to help you limit the number and complexity and also to control the form of returned
results. For example, solve accepts the Real option that lets you restrict all symbolic parameters of an
equation to real numbers. It also accepts the VectorFormat option that you can use to get solutions of a
system as a set of vectors.
Typically, the functions available in MuPAD accept more options than the analogous functions in the MATLAB
Command Window. For example, in MuPAD you can use the VectorFormat option. This option is not directly
available for the solve function called in the MATLAB Command Window.
Possibility to Expand Existing Functionality
The MuPAD programming language supports multiple programming styles, including imperative, functional,
and object-oriented programming. The system includes a few basic functions written in C++, but the majority
of the MuPAD built-in functionality is implemented as library functions written in the MuPAD language. You
can extend the built-in functionality by writing custom symbolic functions and libraries, defining new function
environments, data types, and operations on them in the MuPAD language. MuPAD implements data types
as domains (classes). Domains with similar mathematical structure typically belong to a category. Domains
and categories allow you to use the concepts of inheritance, overloading methods and operators. The
language also uses axioms to state properties of domains and categories.
Object-Oriented Programming contains information to get you started with object-oriented programming in
MuPAD.