Array Syntax
The default value for arrays can be an array of arbitrary length that you type using a special syntax. An array definition must start and end with curly braces ({ and }), and each element is separated with a comma. To indicate a string, it is good practice to surround it with single quotes ('). When you need a special character inside of an array element (including spaces and commas), you must surround the element with single quotes ('). If the string itself includes an apostrophe ('), use two single quotes (''). See the following examples:
Array Syntax
Resulting Array
{1, 2, 3}
A 3-element array with the elements 1, 2, and 3.
{}
An empty array.
{'one, two', 'three by four'}
A 2-element array with elements containing special syntax.
{{1, 2, 3}, {4, 5, 6}}
A 2-element array containing two 3-element arrays (a 2-by-3 matrix).
{{1, 2},{'one, two', 'Poisson''s ratio'}}
A 2-element array containing two 2-element arrays (a 2-by-2 matrix).
Nonrectangular arrays are possible but are seldom useful in an application context.
The parsing returns a single-level string array when there is one level of curly braces, and a double array (or string matrix) when there are two nested levels of curly braces.