MATLAB: How Does This Short Code Work

arraycell array

How is D calculated? Could you explain the steps that MATLAB takes to calculate D?
Is it only for logical values or can be extended to a wider range?
Is there any link to learn more about it?
A = [1; 1; 0; 0; 0; 0; 1];
C = {'w','b'};
D = C(1+A)
D =
'b' 'b' 'w' 'w' 'w' 'w' 'b'

Best Answer

The ‘A’ matrix is a double precision numeric array, not a logical array. Your ‘C’ cell has 2 elements, 'w' and 'b' so ‘C(1)='w'’, and ‘C(2)='b'’. MATLAB indexing begins at 1, not 0, so it is necessary to add 1 to ‘A’ to correctly address the elements of ‘C’.
It can be extended, providing that either no element of ‘A’ is greater that 1, or that you add an appropriate number of elements to ‘C’ to allow for elements of ‘A’ that are greater than 1.
An appropriate link to learn more about it is in the documentation on Matrix Indexing.