Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I had no previous background in programming or computer science, but based on the reviews I bought this book as an introduction to learning Matlab because it was more specific to the field I'm in. I am REALLY surprised at the reviews that say this book is for beginners. I agree with the previous review that says the book starts off easy to understand, and then it feels like it leaves you on your own to figure out a lot of things.
For example, I was trying to complete the first project on my own and using only the commands covered in the previous chapters. I had to ask for help from friends and despite me telling them "I don't think I'm supposed to use that command because they haven't explained it yet" they still gave me other ways to write certain functions that weren't covered. Since I couldn't figure out how to integrate some of the previous material, I wrote the project program with commands that weren't covered by the book up to that point. It was pretty unsatisfying and discouraging. Not the book's fault that my friends didn't use what was taught, but it does lack some guidance for the projects.
My biggest complaint is that I can't find sample programs for the projects! I've checked the companion website and tried to buy the answer manual online, but you have to prove that you're a professor in order to buy it. Available answers would really help someone like me (who has ZERO intuition for programming) get started on projects and find more efficient ways of writing programs. It's not the advanced math or methods described that make this text hard to get through, which some reviewers are attributing to the bad reviews.
There are lots of comments that accompany the examples, a color insert, and a really helpful appendix that quickly reviews some matrix algebra. This seems like a good book for someone in neuroscience or psychology who already has some background in Matlab. But if you're just starting out, especially without any background in programming, this book will likely discourage you. Also, I could see how this book would be good for a beginning course because you've got a professor to guide you through the text. However, I'd recommend David Rosenbaum's "Matlab for Behavioral Scientists" for a beginning text if you're teaching yourself. After reading that book, I've looked back at this book and can understand everything much better.
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