Numeric Types in MATLAB

Numeric class in MATLAB includes signed and unsigned integers, single-precision floating-point numbers, and double-precision floating-point numbers. Generally, MATLAB stores all numeric values as double-precision floating-point. But, we can choose to store any number, or, an array of numbers, as integers or, as single precision, for better memory utilization. All numeric types allow basic array operations, such as indexing, etc.

Create Numeric Variables:

Data type	Description	Size	Typical range
double	Double-precision  (floating-point values)	8 byte	+/- 1.7e +/- 308 (~15 digits)
single	Single-precision  (floating-point values)	4 byte	+/- 3.4e +/- 38 (~7 digits)
int8	8 bit signed integer	1 byte	-128 to 127
int16	16 bit signed integer	2 byte	-32768 to 32767
int32	32 bit signed integer	4 byte	-2147483648 to 2147483647
int64	Signed integer	8 byte	-(263) to (263)-1
uint16	Unsigned integer	2 byte	0 to 65535
uint32	Unsigned integer	4 byte	0 to 4294967295
uint64	Unsigned integer	8 byte	0 to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615

Example 1:

Matlab

% MATLAB code for Numeric Variables
gfg = single([4.4 3.9 6.9]) .* 8.4
gfg = double([4.4 3.9 6.9]) .* 8.4
gfg = int8([4.4 3.9 6.9]) .* 8.4
gfg = int16([4.4 3.9 6.9]) .* 8.4
gfg = int32([4.4 3.9 6.9]) .* 8.4
gfg = int64([4.4 3.9 6.9]) .* 8.4

Output:

gfg = 36.960  32.760   57.960
gfg = 36.960  32.760   57.960
gfg = 34  34  59
gfg = 34  34  59
gfg = 34  34  59
gfg = 34  34  59

Conversion of Numeric Types: 

MATLAB provides the following functions to convert to various numeric data types:

Data type	Description	Syntax
cast	Convert data type of one variable to other	B = cast ( A, newclass) B = cast (A , ‘like’,p)
typecast	Convert data type without changing underlying data	Y = typecast (X, type )

Example 2:

Matlab

% MATLAB code for conversion of Numeric Types
gfg = int8([-5 5]);
b= cast(gfg, "uint8")

Output:

Ans: b = 0  5

Example 3:

Matlab

% MATLAB code for conversion of Numeric Types
gfg = int16(-1)
X = typecast(gfg , 'uint16')

Output:

gfg = -1
X = 65535

Query Type and Value:

MATLAB provides the following data type to check various numeric value:

Data type	Description	Syntax
isinteger	Determine whether input is integer array	TF = isinteger(A)
isfloat	Determine if input is floating-point array	TF = isfloat(A)
isnumeric	Determine whether input is numeric array	TF = isnumeric(A)
isreal	Determine whether array uses complex storage	TF = isreal(A)
isfinite	Determine which array elements are finite	TF = isfinite(A)
isinf	Determine which array elements are infinite	TF = isinf(A)
isnan	Determine which array elements are NaN(Not a Number)	TF = isnan(A)

Example 4:

Matlab

% MATLAB code for Query Type and Value
gfg = isinteger(4)
g = isfloat(pi)
fg = isreal(2 + 7i)
x = isfinite(1 ./0)
y = isinf(1./0)
z = isnan(0./0)

Output:

gfg = 0
g = 1
fg = 0
x = 0
y = 1
z = 1

Numeric Value Limits:

MATLAB provides the following types to check limits of numeric value:

Type	Description	Syntax
eps	Floating-point relative accuracy	d = eps d = eps(x) d = eps(datatype)
flintmax	Largest consecutive integer  in floating-point format	f = flintmax f = flintmax(precision)
Inf	Create array of all Inf values	X = Inf X = Inf(n) X = Inf(sz1,…,szN) X = Inf(sz) X = Inf(___,typename) X = Inf(___,’like’,p)
intmax	Largest value of specific integer type	v = intmax v = intmax(type)
intmin	Smallest value of specified integer type	v = intmin v = intmin(‘classname’)
NaN	Create array of all Not a Number values	X = NaN X = NaN(n) X = NaN(sz1,…,szN) X = NaN(sz) X =NaN(___,typename) X = NaN(___,’like’,p)
realmax	Largest positive floating-point number	f = realmax f = realmax(precision)
realmin	Smallest normalized floating-point number	f = realmin f = realmin(precision)

Example 5:

Matlab

% MATLAB code for Numeric Value Limits
gfg = flintmax
gfg = intmax
gfg = Inf
gfg = intmin
gfg =NaN
gfg = realmax

Output:

gfg = 9.0072e+15
gfg = 2147483647
gfg = Inf
gfg = -2147483648
gfg = NaN
gfg = 1.7977e+308