Use of semicolon in MATLAB

Unlike many programming languages, every statement/expression in MATLAB need not necessarily end with a semicolon. However, in MATLAB, a semicolon is used at the end of a statement to restrict the result of the statement from being displayed in the output.

Let us understand this with a few examples:

Example:  

Output:

In the above code, although we didn’t write any explicit statement to print the value stored in the variable a, b and c, yet the values of a, b and c is displayed as the output by default.

Example: 

 
Output: 

We can observe that this time the output of the statements ending with a semicolon (a=2; and b=3;) are not displayed as the output. Hence, a semicolon can be used in MATLAB to restrict the result of the statement from being displayed in the output.

Note: A semicolon does not restrict the output from being displayed when put at the end of a statement that is specifically meant to print output.

Example: 

 
Output: 

Writing code in the MATLAB environment is quite simple. We do not need to include any libraries/header files, we can directly start writing commands in the command window of the Editor. Usually, we write small and easily executable programs in the Command Window and larger programs with multiple lines and functions in the Editor.

Now, we will see the syntax of a MATLAB program. Let us begin with the very basic code to display ‘Hello World’ as the output in the command window:

Example:

 
Here, disp() is a function used to display the desired value as the output.

Output: 

Likewise, we can perform any basic operation in the command window. Let’s have a look at a few of them. 

Example :

 
Output : 

In the above output, ‘ans’ is a default variable in MATLAB that stores the value of the most recent output. This variable is only created when output is generated without any specific argument to it. 

Example: 

 
Output : 

Thus, we can perform various mathematical operations in the MATLAB command window.  The following table summarizes the various operations along with their syntax that can be performed in MATLAB: