1.7 Using MATLAB's help

You've already used the MATLAB's help function several times. You really only need to know two things. (1) If you know the name of the entity you need more information about, type help stuff, where stuff the name of the thing or things you need more information about. For example, to see how to use MATLAB's exponential function, type help exp. To see all of the help topics, type help without any arguments. (2) On the other hand, if you don't know what MATLAB's name is for something, use the lookfor command. If you want to calculate the natural logarithm but you don't know if MATLAB uses ln, log, or perhaps something different, use lookfor natural. If you are searching for more than one word in the description of a command, combine the words in a string using single quotes. For example, try lookfor 'hyperbolic sine'. You can also find lots of very useful examples, organized by topic, in the Demos. Click on the Help menu and select Demos. For example, under Numerics, try running the Demo for 2-D splines.