Editing MATLAB (section)

===Origins===
MATLAB was invented by mathematician and computer programmer [[Cleve Moler]].<ref name="Chonacky Winch 2005 pp. 9–10">{{cite journal | last1=Chonacky | first1=N. | last2=Winch | first2=D. | title=Reviews of Maple, Mathematica, and Matlab: Coming Soon to a Publication Near You | journal=Computing in Science & Engineering | publisher=Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) | volume=7 | issue=2 | year=2005 | issn=1521-9615 | doi=10.1109/mcse.2005.39 | pages=9–10| bibcode=2005CSE.....7b...9C | s2cid=29660034 }}</ref> The idea for MATLAB was based on his 1960s PhD [[thesis]].<ref name="Chonacky Winch 2005 pp. 9–10" /> Moler became a math professor at the [[University of New Mexico]] and started developing MATLAB for his students<ref name="Chonacky Winch 2005 pp. 9–10" /> as a hobby.<ref name="hobby" /> He developed MATLAB's initial [[linear algebra]] programming in 1967 with his one-time thesis advisor, [[George Forsythe]].<ref name="Chonacky Winch 2005 pp. 9–10" /> This was followed by [[Fortran]] code for [[Linear equation|linear equations]] in 1971.<ref name="Chonacky Winch 2005 pp. 9–10" />

Before version 1.0, MATLAB "was not a programming language; it was a simple interactive [[Matrix (mathematics)|matrix]] calculator. There were no programs, no toolboxes, no graphics. And no [[Ordinary differential equation|ODE]]s or [[FFT]]s."<ref>{{Cite web|title=A Brief History of MATLAB|url=https://www.mathworks.com/company/newsletters/articles/a-brief-history-of-matlab.html|access-date=2021-09-04|website=www.mathworks.com|language=en}}</ref>

The first early version of MATLAB was completed in the late 1970s.<ref name="Chonacky Winch 2005 pp. 9–10" /> The software was disclosed to the public for the first time in February 1979 at the [[Naval Postgraduate School]] in California.<ref name="hobby">{{cite journal|url=http://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom/Writing/MolerBio.pdf|first=Thomas|last=Haigh|title=Cleve Moler: Mathematical Software Pioneer and Creator of Matlab|publisher=IEEE Computer Society|journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing}}</ref> Early versions of MATLAB were simple [[Matrix (mathematics)|matrix calculators]] with 71 pre-built functions.<ref name="Moler Little pp. 1–67">{{cite journal | last1=Moler | first1=Cleve | last2=Little | first2=Jack | title=A history of MATLAB | journal=Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages | publisher=Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) | volume=4 | issue=HOPL | date=June 12, 2020 | pages=1–67 | issn=2475-1421 | doi=10.1145/3386331| doi-access=free }}</ref> At the time, MATLAB was distributed for free<ref name="Xue Press 2020 p. 21">{{cite book | last1=Xue | first1=D. | last2=Press | first2=T.U. | title=MATLAB Programming: Mathematical Problem Solutions | publisher=De Gruyter | series=De Gruyter STEM | year=2020 | isbn=978-3-11-066370-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Y7ZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP21 | access-date=September 16, 2020 | page=21}}</ref><ref name="Press 2008 p. 6">{{cite book | last=Press | first=CRC | title=Solving Applied Mathematical Problems with MATLAB | publisher=CRC Press | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-4200-8251-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V4vulPEc29kC&pg=PA6 | access-date=September 16, 2020 | page=6}}</ref> to universities.<ref name="Woodford Phillips 2011 p. 1">{{cite book | last1=Woodford | first1=C. | last2=Phillips | first2=C. | title=Numerical Methods with Worked Examples: Matlab Edition | publisher=Springer Netherlands | series=SpringerLink : Bücher | year=2011 | isbn=978-94-007-1366-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L90JVxIvA0YC&pg=PA1 | access-date=September 16, 2020 | page=1}}</ref> Moler would leave copies at universities he visited and the software developed a strong following in the math departments of university campuses.<ref name="Tranquillo 2011 p.">{{cite book | last=Tranquillo | first=J.V. | title=MATLAB for Engineering and the Life Sciences | publisher=Morgan & Claypool Publishers | series=Synthesis digital library of engineering and computer science | year=2011 | isbn=978-1-60845-710-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofWpMryW0lgC | access-date=September 17, 2020 | page=}}</ref>{{RP|5}}

In the 1980s, Cleve Moler met [[John N. Little]]. They decided to reprogram MATLAB in [[C (programming language)|C]] and market it for the [[IBM]] [[Desktop computer|desktops]] that were replacing [[Mainframe computer|mainframe computers]] at the time.<ref name="Chonacky Winch 2005 pp. 9–10" /> John Little and programmer Steve Bangert re-programmed MATLAB in C, created the MATLAB programming language, and developed features for toolboxes.<ref name="hobby" />