What is "matlab"

MATLAB (Matrix Laboratory) is a high performance interactive software aimed at the numerical calculation. MATLAB integrates numerical analysis, matrix calculation, signal processing and graphic construction in an easy-to-use environment where problems and solutions are expressed only as they are written mathematically, unlike traditional programming.

This system allows the resolution of many numerical problems in just a fraction of the time it would take to write a similar program in language Fortran, Basic or C for example.