What is the purpose of the inline function in MATLAB?

In earlier versions of MATLAB, the inline function was used to create inline functions (functions defined in a single line of code). However, starting from MATLAB R2016b, this function has been deprecated and it is recommended to use anonymous functions instead.

In earlier versions, the purpose of inline functions was to convert a single line expression into a MATLAB function. It allows you to define a function with input variables and return a function handle that can be called like any other function. For example:

f = inline('x^2 + 2*x - 1', 'x');

Afterwards, you can use f to calculate the value of the function.

y = f(3); % 计算f(3)

However, due to the limitations and performance issues of inline functions, it is recommended to use anonymous functions as a replacement. Anonymous functions offer more flexibility and performance optimization. For example, the previous example can be defined using an anonymous function:

f = @(x) x^2 + 2*x - 1;

Then you can also use f to calculate the value of the function.

y = f(3); % 计算f(3)

Therefore, the role of inline functions has been replaced by anonymous functions and is no longer recommended for use.