Programming and Data Types

Other Ways to Speed Up Performance

Here are several other suggestions that may help you to get increased performance from your M-file programs. Also be sure to read Performance Acceleration.

Coding Loops in a MEX-File for Speed

If there are instances where you must use a for loop, consider coding the loop in a MEX-file. In this way, the loop executes much more quickly since the instructions in the loop do not have to be interpreted each time they execute.

Functions Are Faster Than Scripts

Your code will execute more quickly if it is implemented in a function rather than a script. Every time a script is used in MATLAB, it is loaded into memory and evaluated one line at a time. Functions, on the other hand, are compiled into pseudo-code and loaded into memory once. Therefore, additional calls to the function are faster.

Load and Save Are Faster Than File I/O Functions

If you have a choice of whether to use load and save instead of the MATLAB file I/O routines, choose the former. The load and save functions are optimized to run faster and reduce memory fragmentation.

Avoid Large Background Processes

Avoid running large processes in the background at the same time you are executing your program in MATLAB. This frees more CPU time for your MATLAB session.

Preallocating Arrays

Performance Acceleration