Scalars, Vectors, and Matrices in MATLAB: What’s the Difference?

a MATLAB Cheat Sheet by SPARTAN PROFESSOR

SCALARS

Description: A scalar is a two-dimensional array that has a size of 1-by-1.

Useful Functions: isscalar(S) returns logical 1 (true) if S is a 1-by-1 scalar, and logical 0 (false) otherwise.

VECTORS

Description: A vector is a two-dimensional array that has a size of 1-by- n or m-by-1, where m and n are
nonnegative integers.

Useful Functions: isvector(A) returns logical 1 (true) if A is a vector. Otherwise, it returns logical 0 (false).
isrow(A) returns logical 1 (true) if size(A) returns [1 n] with a nonnegative integer value n, and
logical 0 (false) otherwise.
iscolumn(A) returns logical 1 (true) if size(A) returns [m 1] with a nonnegative integer value m,
and logical 0 (false) otherwise.

MATRICES

Description: A matrix is a two-dimensional array that has a size of m-by- n, where m and n are nonnegative
integers.

Useful Functions: ismatrix(A) returns logical 1 (true) if A is a matrix. Otherwise, it returns logical 0 (false).

SIZE AND DIMENSIONS

Useful Functions: ndims(A) returns the number of dimensions in the array A. The number of dimensions is
always greater than or equal to 2.
size(A) returns a row vector whose elements are the lengths of the corresponding dimensions
of A.

EXAMPLES
isscalar(A)

isvector(A)

iscolumn(A)

ismatrix(A)
ndims(A)

isrow(A)
size(A)

Input Output
1 2 3
A = [1,2,3;4,5,6;7,8,9] 4 5 6 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 1
7 8 9
A = [10,11,12] 10 11 12 1 3 2 0 1 1 0 1
13
A = [13;14;15] 14 3 1 2 0 1 0 1 1
15
A = 16 16 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1

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