% example figure making
%
% functions we will use:
% hist
% figure
% plot
% subplot
% grid
% xlabel
% ylabel
% title
%
% also try:
%   help hold
%   help plot

figure; 
a = 2 * randn(1000,1) + 1; % a random normal with mean 1 and std dev 2
hist(a); % create a histogram
xlabel('values of random normal');
ylabel('# of values');

a =  -10 : 10 ;
b = a.^2;
figure;     % open a new figure to plot on
plot(a,b);  % this will plot to new figure
grid on;
xlabel('a');
ylabel('a^2'); 
title('this is a parabola');

% let's create a figure with 
% 2 x 3 layout
figure;
n = 0;
cols = { 'r' , 'g' , 'b' , 'k' , 'c' , 'k' };        % cell array of strings
shapes = { '-' , '-.' , '+-' , '^-' , 'v-' , 'o-' }; % cell array of strings
for i = 1 : 2
    for j = 1 : 3
        n = n + 1;
        subplot(2,3,n); % make the nth cell active to accept next plot
        
        % notes: 1. the optional third argument contains a COLOR and LINETYPE
        %        e.g., 'r-' means red line, 'b-.' means blue dotted line,
        %        etc.
        %        2. all additional arguments come in pairs of 
        %           (propertyname, propertyvalue)
        %           here we use propertyname = 'linewidth'
        %                       propertyvalue = 2
        
        linetypearg = [ cols{n} shapes{n} ]; % this concatenates two strings
        plot( a , (i*a).^j , linetypearg , 'linewidth' , 2 );
        title(sprintf('%d*a^%d', i , j));
    end
end