Functions in matlab

Question

This looks really simple. I want to define a function:

syms x

f = x^2

I want to be able to do f(4) and it spits out 16. I also want to avoid having to write a new m-file.

Answer 1

When dealing with symbolic variables, to substitute in a numeric value, use subs(), i.e. symbolic substitution:

syms x
f = x^2

subs(f,4)

Answer 2

>> f = @(x) x^2;
>> f(4)

ans =

    16