matlab functions

Question

helo, I have the following function called stat.m

function [mean,stdev] = stat(x)
n = length(x)
mean = sum(x)/n
stdev = sqrt(sum((x-mean).^2/n))

I defined x as a vector which is [1,2,5,7,9]

how come when I type a = stat(x) , matlab returns a = 5 for the last line at command prompt?

Answer 1

If you want to get both return values, you have to do this:

[a, b] = stat(x);

If you just do a = stat(x) , MATLAB interprets that to mean that you only want the first return value.

Answer 2

because a gets the first argument mean

try to call it [a,b] = stat(x)