{"id":3691,"date":"2020-05-07T08:17:02","date_gmt":"2020-05-07T12:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/?p=3691"},"modified":"2020-09-11T10:25:45","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T14:25:45","slug":"what-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/2020\/05\/07\/what-is\/","title":{"rendered":"What is?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<div class=\"content\"><!--introduction--><p>I've been allowing my self some time these days to read more than usual about certain aspects of numerical math, deep learning, and other technical topics.  In that regard, I found the timing of Nick Higham's new <a href=\"https:\/\/nhigham.com\/category\/what-is\/\">series<\/a>, called What is, on <a href=\"https:\/\/nhigham.com\/about\/\">his<\/a> wonderful blog.  He is a long-time and valued contributor on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mathworks.com\/matlabcentral\/profile\/authors\/63123-nick-higham\">MATLAB Central<\/a> and a friend to many of us at MathWorks.<\/p><!--\/introduction--><h3>Contents<\/h3><div><ul><li><a href=\"#c22b80d1-70f0-4209-8b12-34d1aac9a125\">Topics<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#be70d5f7-da36-4f7f-a696-f5829c777c51\">What is your \"What is?\" Project?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><h4>Topics<a name=\"c22b80d1-70f0-4209-8b12-34d1aac9a125\"><\/a><\/h4><p>Nick has chosen to cover very important topics in numerical computing, starting with some of the very basic definitions and matrix constructions.  He has made <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/higham\/what-is\">his code<\/a> available so we can all benefit.  I learn something in each post I read, even on topics that I know a fair amount about.<\/p><p>Nick writes (and speaks - see him give a lecture if you ever get the chance!) with such beautiful clarity.  And passes along insights as he goes.  I learned a lot about <a href=\"https:\/\/nhigham.com\/2020\/04\/28\/what-is-rounding\/\">rounding<\/a> last week. In fact, I wish we could <b>force<\/b> everyone to read, and maybe even pass a quiz on this, before they use the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mathworks.com\/help\/matlab\/ref\/colon.html\">colon operator(:)<\/a> in MATLAB with a decimal stepsize!<\/p><h4>What is your \"What is?\" Project?<a name=\"be70d5f7-da36-4f7f-a696-f5829c777c51\"><\/a><\/h4><p>In addition to my external reading, I am also using this time to learn more about parts of MathWorks products that I know less well.<\/p><p>Are you using this time to indulge in reading technical works that you might not ordinarily spend time?  Let us know what is capturing your interests <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/?p=3691#respond\">here<\/a>.<\/p><script language=\"JavaScript\"> <!-- \r\n    function grabCode_ab3fdf972ffb4852a3b08204912fb156() {\r\n        \/\/ Remember the title so we can use it in the new page\r\n        title = document.title;\r\n\r\n        \/\/ Break up these strings so that their presence\r\n        \/\/ in the Javascript doesn't mess up the search for\r\n        \/\/ the MATLAB code.\r\n        t1='ab3fdf972ffb4852a3b08204912fb156 ' + '##### ' + 'SOURCE BEGIN' + ' #####';\r\n        t2='##### ' + 'SOURCE END' + ' #####' + ' ab3fdf972ffb4852a3b08204912fb156';\r\n    \r\n        b=document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0];\r\n        i1=b.innerHTML.indexOf(t1)+t1.length;\r\n        i2=b.innerHTML.indexOf(t2);\r\n \r\n        code_string = b.innerHTML.substring(i1, i2);\r\n        code_string = code_string.replace(\/REPLACE_WITH_DASH_DASH\/g,'--');\r\n\r\n        \/\/ Use \/x3C\/g instead of the less-than character to avoid errors \r\n        \/\/ in the XML parser.\r\n        \/\/ Use '\\x26#60;' instead of '<' so that the XML parser\r\n        \/\/ doesn't go ahead and substitute the less-than character. \r\n        code_string = code_string.replace(\/\\x3C\/g, '\\x26#60;');\r\n\r\n        copyright = 'Copyright 2020 The MathWorks, Inc.';\r\n\r\n        w = window.open();\r\n        d = w.document;\r\n        d.write('<pre>\\n');\r\n        d.write(code_string);\r\n\r\n        \/\/ Add copyright line at the bottom if specified.\r\n        if (copyright.length > 0) {\r\n            d.writeln('');\r\n            d.writeln('%%');\r\n            if (copyright.length > 0) {\r\n                d.writeln('% _' + copyright + '_');\r\n            }\r\n        }\r\n\r\n        d.write('<\/pre>\\n');\r\n\r\n        d.title = title + ' (MATLAB code)';\r\n        d.close();\r\n    }   \r\n     --> <\/script><p style=\"text-align: right; font-size: xx-small; font-weight:lighter;   font-style: italic; color: gray\"><br><a href=\"javascript:grabCode_ab3fdf972ffb4852a3b08204912fb156()\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;        font-style: italic;\">Get \r\n      the MATLAB code <noscript>(requires JavaScript)<\/noscript><\/span><\/a><br><br>\r\n      Published with MATLAB&reg; R2020a<br><\/p><\/div><!--\r\nab3fdf972ffb4852a3b08204912fb156 ##### SOURCE BEGIN #####\r\n%% What is?\r\n% I've been allowing my self some time these days to read more than usual\r\n% about certain aspects of numerical math, deep learning, and other\r\n% technical topics.  In that regard, I found the timing of Nick Higham's\r\n% new <https:\/\/nhigham.com\/category\/what-is\/ series>, called What is, on\r\n% <https:\/\/nhigham.com\/about\/ his> wonderful blog.  He is a long-time and\r\n% valued contributor on\r\n% <https:\/\/www.mathworks.com\/matlabcentral\/profile\/authors\/63123-nick-higham\r\n% MATLAB Central> and a friend to many of us at MathWorks.\r\n%% Topics\r\n% Nick has chosen to cover very important topics in numerical computing,\r\n% starting with some of the very basic definitions and matrix\r\n% constructions.  He has made <https:\/\/github.com\/higham\/what-is his code>\r\n% available so we can all benefit.  I learn something in each post I read,\r\n% even on topics that I know a fair amount about.\r\n%%\r\n% Nick writes (and speaks - see him give a lecture if you ever get the\r\n% chance!) with such beautiful clarity.  And passes along insights as he\r\n% goes.  I learned a lot about\r\n% <https:\/\/nhigham.com\/2020\/04\/28\/what-is-rounding\/ rounding> last week. In\r\n% fact, I wish we could *force* everyone to read, and maybe even pass a quiz\r\n% on this, before they use the\r\n% <https:\/\/www.mathworks.com\/help\/matlab\/ref\/colon.html colon operator(:)>\r\n% in MATLAB with a decimal stepsize!\r\n%% What is your \"What is?\" Project?\r\n% In addition to my external reading, I am also using this time to learn\r\n% more about parts of MathWorks products that I know less well. \r\n%\r\n% Are you using this time to indulge in reading technical works that you\r\n% might not ordinarily spend time?  Let us know what is capturing your\r\n% interests <https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/?p=3691#respond here>.\r\n\r\n##### SOURCE END ##### ab3fdf972ffb4852a3b08204912fb156\r\n-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<!--introduction--><p>I've been allowing my self some time these days to read more than usual about certain aspects of numerical math, deep learning, and other technical topics.  In that regard, I found the timing of Nick Higham's new <a href=\"https:\/\/nhigham.com\/category\/what-is\/\">series<\/a>, called What is, on <a href=\"https:\/\/nhigham.com\/about\/\">his<\/a> wonderful blog.  He is a long-time and valued contributor on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mathworks.com\/matlabcentral\/profile\/authors\/63123-nick-higham\">MATLAB Central<\/a> and a friend to many of us at MathWorks.... <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/2020\/05\/07\/what-is\/\">read more >><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[89,91,40,26],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3691"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3691"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3709,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3691\/revisions\/3709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/loren\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}