Local functions in MATLAB - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Using Local Functions in MATLAB

📖 Scenario: You are working on a simple calculator program in MATLAB. You want to organize your code by using local functions inside a main script to perform addition and multiplication.

🎯 Goal: Build a MATLAB script that uses local functions to add and multiply two numbers, then display the results.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create two variables a and b with exact values 5 and 3

Create a local function called addNumbers that takes two inputs and returns their sum

Create a local function called multiplyNumbers that takes two inputs and returns their product

Call both local functions with a and b and store the results

Display the sum and product using disp

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Local functions are useful in MATLAB for organizing code in scripts, especially for small projects or when you want to keep related functions together.

💼 Career

Understanding local functions is important for MATLAB programming jobs in engineering, data analysis, and scientific research where modular and readable code is valued.

1

Create variables a and b

Create two variables called a and b and set them to 5 and 3 respectively.

MATLAB

% Your code here

Need a hint?

Use the assignment operator = to set the values.

2

Create local function addNumbers

Create a local function called addNumbers that takes two inputs x and y and returns their sum as output result.

MATLAB

a = 5;
b = 3;

% Define local function addNumbers below

Need a hint?

Use the function keyword to define a local function inside the script.

3

Create local function multiplyNumbers

Create a local function called multiplyNumbers that takes two inputs x and y and returns their product as output result.

MATLAB

a = 5;
b = 3;

function result = addNumbers(x, y)
    result = x + y;
end

% Define local function multiplyNumbers below

Need a hint?

Define the second local function similarly to the first, but use multiplication.

4

Call local functions and display results

Call the local functions addNumbers and multiplyNumbers with inputs a and b. Store the results in variables sumResult and productResult. Then use disp to display the sum and product with the exact text: 'Sum: ' followed by the sum, and 'Product: ' followed by the product.

MATLAB

a = 5;
b = 3;

function result = addNumbers(x, y)
    result = x + y;
end

function result = multiplyNumbers(x, y)
    result = x * y;
end

% Call functions and display results below

Need a hint?

Use num2str to convert numbers to strings for display.