March 5, 2008 -- The MathWorks today introduced Release 2008a (R2008a) of its MATLAB and Simulink product families. R2008a is the latest update to the MathWorks product line, which includes new versions of MATLAB and Simulink, along with improvements to 82 other products. R2008a marks the seventh consecutive release issued by The MathWorks since the company announced a program of shipping product updates every six months.

R2008a features improved object-oriented programming capabilities in MATLAB that enable users to develop complex technical computing applications faster than with other languages, such as C++, C#, and Java. Now programmers can define classes and apply standard object-oriented design patterns in MATLAB to enjoy the benefits of code reuse, inheritance, encapsulation, and reference behavior without engaging in the low-level housekeeping tasks required by other languages.

The improved object-oriented capabilities include:

• Class definition files for defining of properties, methods, and events
• Handle classes with reference behavior for creating data structures such as linked lists
• Events and listeners for monitoring object property changes and actions
• JIT-Accelerator support for achieving significantly improved object performance Development environment support for creating and using classes

Other R2008a improvements include extensions to Embedded MATLAB code generation, new capabilities for parallel computing, new verification and validation capabilities, and automatic code generation of AUTOSAR-compliant code.

The new release is available immediately for purchase and is being shipped to customers with current subscriptions to the MathWorks Software Maintenance Service.

Go to the The MathWorks, Inc. website for product details.