ParaMonte MATLAB 3.0.0
Parallel Monte Carlo and Machine Learning Library
See the latest version documentation.
ParaMonte MATLAB 3.0.0

This is the ParaMonte MATLAB documentation website for the MATLAB users and developers.

What is ParaMonte?

ParaMonte is a multi-language library of serial and parallel Monte Carlo and Machine Learning routines scientific inference, e.g., for sampling mathematical density functions of arbitrary-dimensions, with the design goal of unifying

  • the automation of simulations and inference,
  • the user-friendliness of the library and routines,
  • the accessibility from multiple programming environments,
  • the high-performance at runtime, and,
  • the scalability across many parallel processors.

ParaMonte Project Repository

The ParaMonte library is open-source and is permanently located and maintained on GitHub at:

https://github.com/cdslaborg/paramonte

ParaMonte Prebuilt Releases

The pre-built releases of the ParaMonte library for select configurations and compilers are available on GitHub Release page at:

https://github.com/cdslaborg/paramonte/releases

For instructions to build the ParaMonte library from source files, visit the ParaMonte library main documentation website linked below.

ParaMonte Documentation Website

For information about the ParaMonte library in general and in other supported programming languages, visit:

https://www.cdslab.org/paramonte

ParaMonte MATLAB Documentation Website

The documentation for the latest version of the ParaMonte MATLAB library is always available on this page.

ParaMonte MATLAB QuickStart

For more information on the installation, general usage, and examples, visit:

https://www.cdslab.org/paramonte/generic/latest/installation/matlab/

To get started with the library once you download it, simply add the path to the ParaMonte library +pm package to access the routines and functionalities available in the library.

pmlibRootDir = './'; % Change this to the directory containing the ParaMonte MATLAB package `+pm`.
addpath(pmlibRootDir);
pm.lib.version();
doc pm

ParaMonte MATLAB Library Modules

The MATLAB equivalent of modules is called package. Similar to modules in other languages, MATLAB packages can be imported to the MATLAB environment or simply be used as namespace. For example,

pm.lib.version()

The ParaMonte MATLAB library currently contains a myriad of MATLAB packages.
The ParaMonte MATLAB library is currently under active development to extend the library functionalities to other tasks supported by the ParaMonte Fortran library.
For a full list of all available functionalities and modules, see the files listing and class listing of this documentation website.

⛓⛓

ParaMonte MATLAB Library Samplers

Perhaps the most relevant ParaMonte MATLAB modules to the end users are the ParaMonte samplers in the pm.sampling package of the library.
See for example, the documentation of the parallel Delayed-Rejection Adaptive Metropolis Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampler pm.sampling.Paradram.

ParaMonte MATLAB Naming Conventions

  • The camelCase naming style is enforced throughout the ParaMonte MATLAB library for all variable and function names.
  • The PascalCase naming style is enforced throughout the ParaMonte MATLAB library for all class names.
    In other words, all class names begin with a capital letter.

⛓⛓

ParaMonte MATLAB Naming Conventions: Variables

By convention in this library,

  • All variables and procedure names except compile-time constants begin with an lowercase letter.
  • All constants and parameters should generally be typed in uppercase.
  • The names of variables that always represent vectors of values may be suffixed with Vec or Vector.
  • The names of variables that always represent matrices of values may be suffixed with Mat or Matrix.
  • A significant attempt has been made to end all logical variables with a passive verb.
    This is to ensure that the full variable name virtually forms a proposition.
    In other words, a logical variable name should be an English-language statement that evaluates to either true or false.
    For example, parallelismMpiFinalizeEnabled is one such proposition.
    • Occasionally, names that begin with the verb is can also be used to label logical objects.
    • But as a general rule, names that begin with a verb should be reserved for procedures.

⛓⛓

ParaMonte MATLAB Naming Conventions: Procedures

  • Procedure names should be descriptive of the action performed by the procedure. For example,
    • getCov means generate (a) covariance matrix.
    • setMatCopy means copy the matrix into the specified buffer.
  • Procedure names should preferably begin with a lowercase verb.
  • Exceptions to the above and below rules are allowed when,
    • the procedure name is exceptionally famous, or
    • it is very inconvenient to prefix the procedure name with a verb.
  • The names of functions with return values should preferably begin with get.
    The reasoning is simple: Functions in mathematics generate and obtain a new object instead of changing (resetting) the state of an existing object.
    For example, the function getMatSym(mat) generates a symmetric version of the input matrix and returns it as the function result.
    Exceptions to this naming convention are allowed, for example, when the get prefix is inconvenient or when the function returns a logical result.
  • Functions that return objects of type logical should be preferably prefixed with is or be named such that the name begins with a verb and reads as a proposition, evaluating to either .true. or .false..

ParaMonte MATLAB Abbreviation Guidelines

The following list of abbreviations is in alphabetical order to enable faster search:

  • The abbreviation avg stands for average (rarely used).
  • The abbreviation cdf stands for Cumulative Distribution Function in the context of statistics. Example: getNormCDF().
  • The abbreviation cho stands for Cholesky factorization. Example: setChoLow().
  • The abbreviation chol stands for Cholesky factorization. Example: setMatChol().
  • The abbreviation cor stands for correlation. Example: getCor().
  • The abbreviation cov stands for covariance. Example: getCov().
  • The abbreviation cum stands for cumulative. Example: getCumSum().
  • The abbreviation coef stands for coefficient. Example: corcoef_type().
  • The abbreviation def stands for default in variable names (mostly as a prefix def_ or suffix _def).
  • The abbreviation def stands for definite (mostly in procedure names dealing with positive-definite matrices)
  • The abbreviation den stands for density, mostly in the context of statistical procedures and objects. Example: getLogProbDen().
  • The abbreviation det stands for determinant, mostly in the context of Matrix and linear algebra. Example: getMatDet().
  • The abbreviation dia stands for diagonal, mostly in the context of matrix algebra, matrix packing, or Cholesky factorization. Example: dia_type().
  • The abbreviation diag stands for diagonal, mostly as dummy argument in matrix algebra procedures.
  • The abbreviation desc stands for description, mostly as a dummy argument in tests.
  • The abbreviation diff stands for difference. Example: setDisSortedExpDiff().
  • The abbreviation dist stands for distance or distribution depending on the context. Example: DistMulti_type.
  • The abbreviation eff stands for effective. Example: effSamSize.
  • The abbreviation exp stands for exponential or exponentiated. Example: setDisSortedExpDiff().
  • The abbreviation hell stands for Hellinger in statistical distance computations. Example: getDisHellSq().
  • The abbreviation herm stands for hermitian in matrix algebra.
  • The abbreviation ice stands for Internal Compiler Error. It typically appears in the bug descriptions tagged via Doxygen command \bug.
  • The abbreviation inv stands for inverse. Example: getMatInv().
  • The abbreviation ks stands for Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Example: getProbKS().
  • The abbreviation lin stands for linear. Example: getLinSpace().
  • The abbreviation low stands for lower triangle of a matrix or lower limits. Example: setChoLow().
  • The abbreviation mahal stands for Mahalanobis distance. Example: getDisMahalSq().
  • The abbreviation mat stands for matrix. Example: getMatInv().
  • The abbreviation multi stands for multivariate mostly used in the context of statistical distributions. Example: getMultiNormRand().
  • The abbreviation msn stands for Multivariate Skew-Normal mostly used in the context of the statistical MultiVariate Skew-Normal distribution.
  • The abbreviation mvn stands for MultiVariate Normal mostly used in the context of the statistical MultiVariate Normal distribution.
  • The abbreviation mvu stands for MultiVariate Uniform mostly used in the context of the statistical MultiVariate (ellipsoidal) Uniform distribution.
  • The abbreviation norm stands for normal in the context of statistical distributions or normalization factor. Example: DistMultiNorm_type.
  • The abbreviation normed stands for normalized mostly in the context of statistical samples. Example: NormedSample.
  • The abbreviation pdf stands for Probability Density Function in the context of statistics. Example: getNormLogPDF().
  • The abbreviation pos stands for positive. Example: getInvPosDefMat().
  • The abbreviation prob stands for probability, mostly in the context of statistical applications. Example: getLogProb().
  • The abbreviation proc stands for procedure, particularly, when it appears as the suffix _proc in abstract interface definitions.
  • The abbreviation quan stands for quantile, mostly in the context of statistics. Example: getParetoLogQuan().
  • The abbreviation rand stands for random, mostly in the context of statistics. Example: getUnifRand().
  • The abbreviation ref stands for reference, mostly in the context of testings to represent the reference values for comparison. Example: mean_ref.
  • The abbreviation sam stands for sample, mostly in the context of statistics. Example: effSamSize.
  • The abbreviation sq stands for squared. Example: getDisMahalSq().
  • The abbreviation stat stands for statistics. Example: StatDRAM_type.
  • The abbreviation std stands for standard deviation. Example: StdVec.
  • The abbreviation sym stands for symmetric.
  • The abbreviation symm stands for symmetric.
  • The abbreviation udf stands for Unnormalized Density Function in the context of statistics. Example: getEggBoxLogUDF().
  • The abbreviation uni stands for univariate, mostly used in the context of statistical distributions. Example: DistUni_type.
  • The abbreviation unif stands for uniform, mostly in the context of the uniform statistical distribution. Example: getUnifRand().
  • The abbreviation upp stands for upper triangle of a matrix or upper limits. Example: setChoUpp().
  • The abbreviation vec stands for vector. Example: stdVec.

ParaMonte MATLAB Developer Guidelines and Warnings

The ParaMonte MATLAB library development and guidelines are summarized in CONTRIBUTING.md.

ParaMonte MATLAB Documentation Guidelines

  • Doxygen custom command orderings.
    • The Doxygen tag \brief must always be the first line of the documentation of modules, types, and procedures.
      Example: pm.sampling.Paradram.
    • The Doxygen tag \details, if it exists, must always immediately follow the Doxygen tag \brief.
      Example: pm.sampling.Paradram.
    • The Doxygen tag \param, if any number of it exists, must always immediately follow the Doxygen tag \brief (or \details if it exists).
      Example: pm.sampling.Paradram.
    • The Doxygen tag \return, must be exclusively used to indicate the return value of functions.
      If it exists, it must appear immediately after the set of \param tags. Example: pm.sampling.Paradram.
    • If a generic interface is being documented, the ParaMonte custom command \interface must appear immediately after the Doxygen \return, \param, \details, or \brief tags in the specified order, if any exists.
    • The Doxygen tag \warning, if any number of it exists, must immediately follow the Doxygen tag \return if it exists, otherwise \param if it exists, otherwise \details if it exists, otherwise \brief.
      The \warning tag must be used to highlight situations that require special attention of the user, otherwise, there is a danger for the code section being documented to not behave normally as one may expect.
    • The Doxygen tag \attention has the same functionality and usage as \warning.
      Therefore, \warning should be preferred wherever \attention is needed.
      Exceptions are allowed and if they occur, the same documentation conventions as those of \warning also apply to the tag \attention.
    • The Doxygen tag \remark, if any number of it exists, must immediately follow the Doxygen tag \warning if it exists, otherwise the Doxygen tag \return if it exists, otherwise \param if it exists, otherwise \details if it exists, otherwise \brief.
      The tag \remark should be reserved for explaining behavior that is directly related to the code segment being documented, but its knowledge is not so critical as warrant the use of a \warning tag.
    • The Doxygen tag \note, if it exists, must appear after all \warning and \attention and \remark tags and immediately before the ParaMonte custom command tag \see if it exists, otherwise immediately before \example for examples (if it exists).
    • The Doxygen tag \see, if it exists, must appear after all \warning and \remark and \note tags.
      If more than one item for the \see command exists, each must be written on a separate line and each line must end with the HTML line-break tag <br>. Example: See below.
    • If any example exists, it must appear immediately after the \see tag, otherwise after \note, \remark, \warning, \param, \details, or \brief if any exists.
      ParaMonte examples are initiated by the custom command \example devised in the config.txt file of ParaMonte Doxygen documentation.
      If the example exists in an external file, then it must be included via the Doxygen \include command, followed immediately by the ParaMonte custom Doxygen command \compile which inserts the generic example compile commands for the example, followed optionally but immediately by the output file of the example inserted in the documentation via the \include command, followed immediately by the inclusion of any other visualization or postprocessing scripts and output.
      In all steps, it is imperative to not leave any empty lines between the successive commands of the example section, designated by the \example, otherwise, each empty line will start a new paragraph in the documentation.
      Example: See below.
    • The Doxygen \test tag, if any exists, must appear immediately after the example section designated by the \example tag.
    • The Doxygen \bug tag, if any exists, must appear immediately after the \test tag or any other tag immediately preceding it.
    • The Doxygen \todo tag, if any exists, must appear immediately after the \todo tag or any other tag immediately preceding it.
    • The closing command of each documentation section must be the ParaMonte custom command \final separated from the tags before and after by an empty line.
    • The Doxygen \xrefitem authors "Author" "Authors" tag is the last command to appear in any documentation section, and it must preferably have the format exemplified in the example below.


  • ParaMonte Doxygen custom commands.
    To simplify documentation and avoid retyping certain frequently used keywords and sentences, a number of Doxygen aliases are predfined in the ParaMonte Doxygen config.txt file. These include (but are not limited to):

    • \warnpure Inserts a \warning about procedures that are impure when the library is built the preprocessor macro CHECK_ENABLED=1.
    • \elemental Inserts a \remark tag indicating that the procedure of interest is elemental.
    • \pure Inserts a \remark tag indicating that the procedure of interest is pure.
    • \interface Starts a Possible calling interfaces paragraph where different calling interfaces of a procedure can be listed.
    • \benchmark Starts a new Benchmark paragraph which is hyper-linked to the generic anchor #benchmark at the same location on the same page.
    • \benchmark{xxx} Starts a new Benchmark paragraph which is hyper-linked to the specific anchor #benchmark-xxx at the same location on the same page.
    • \benchmark{xxx, This is the benchmark title} Starts a new Benchmark paragraph which is hyper-linked to the specific anchor #benchmark-xxx at the same location on the same page with the title This is the benchmark title.
    • \example Starts a new Example usage paragraph which is hyper-linked to the generic anchor #example at the same location on the same page.
    • \example{xxx} Starts a new Example usage paragraph which is hyper-linked to the specific anchor #example-xxx at the same location on the same page.
    • \compile Inserts the set of example compile commands.
    • \output Inserts a title line for the output section of an example paragraph.
    • \postproc Inserts a title line for the postprocessing section of an example paragraph.
    • \abbr Inserts a \remark tag about the naming abbreviations used in the library.
    • \naming Inserts a \remark tag about the naming conventions used in the library.
    • \license Inserts a \remark tag about the generic licensing of the library.
    • \final Inserts the set of final generic remarks that should appear at the end of each documentation section.

    For an up-to-date list of all available aliases, check the value of the Doxygen ALIASES option in config.txt in the ParaMonte MATLAB documentation repository.

  • Escaping the Doxygen reserved characters.
    Doxygen has a set of reserved characters whose usage in the documentation must be handled properly.

    • Most importantly, the backslash character \ begins a Doxygen command.
      To print a backslash character to the output one should escape it via \\.
    • Also, the use of the percentage symbol % requires special care in some instances.
      This is particularly important when defining Windows environment variables that should typically be enclosed with percentage character.

    For more information, see the relevant page on Doxygen documentation website.

  • Avoid the insertion of an empty documentation line between any two lines of a single Doxygen paragraph.
    This is crucial when the whole paragraph is indented by a vertical line as is done by Doxygen for \warning, \remark, \note and other similar tags.

    Example usage
    The following is an example documentation for a procedure:
    ///
    ///  \brief
    ///  This is the ParaDRAM class for generating instances of serial and parallel
    ///  Delayed-Rejection Adaptive Metropolis-Hastings Markov Chain Monte Carlo
    ///  sampler of the ParaMonte MATLAB library.<br>
    ///
    ///  \brief
    ///  Once you assign the desired simulation specifications to the corresponding
    ///  attributes within the component `spec` of an object of class [pm.sampling.Paradram](@ref Paradram),
    ///  call the ParaDRAM sampler via the object method [pm.sampling.Paradram.run()](@ref Paradram::run).<br>
    ///
    ///  While the constructor of this class does not take any input arguments,
    ///  all ParaDRAM simulation specifications can be set after creating the object.<br>
    ///
    ///  \return
    ///  ``sampler`` :   The output scalar object of class [pm.sampling.Paradram](@ref Paradram).<br>
    ///
    ///  \interface{Paradram}
    ///  \code{.m}
    ///
    ///      sampler = pm.sampling.Paradram();
    ///
    ///  \endcode
    ///
    ///  \warning
    ///  When using the ParaMonte MATLAB library functionalities, particularly ParaMonte samplers in parallel,
    ///  it would be best to close any such aggressive software/applications as Dropbox, ZoneAlarm, ...
    ///  that interfere with your ParaMonte MATLAB library output files, potentially causing the tasks
    ///  to fail and crash before successful completion.<br>
    ///  These situations happen only scarcely.<br>
    ///
    ///  \note
    ///  On Windows systems, when restarting an old interrupted ParaDRAM simulation,
    ///  ensure your MATLAB session is also restarted before the simulation restart.<br>
    ///  This may be needed as Windows sometimes locks access to some or all of the simulation output files.<br>
    ///
    ///  \note
    ///  To unset an already-set input simulation specification, simply set the
    ///  simulation attribute to empty double `[]` or re-instantiate the object.<br>
    ///
    ///  \see
    ///  [ParaDRAM simulation specifications listing](\pmdoc_usage_sampling/paradram/specifications/)<br>
    ///  [ParaDRAM simulation restart functionality](\pmdoc_usage_sampling/paradram/restart/)<br>
    ///  [ParaDRAM simulation output files](\pmdoc_usage_sampling/paradram/output/)<br>
    ///
    ///  Example Usage: Serial
    ///  ---------------------
    ///
    ///  First, ensure the ParaMonte ``+pm`` package (i.e., folder) is available in your MATLAB paths.
    ///
    ///  Here is a MATLAB script ``main.m`` for a serial ParaDRAM simulation.<br>
    ///  Copy and paste the following code into your MATLAB session:<br>
    ///
    ///  \code{.m}
    ///
    ///      sampler = pm.sampling.Paradram();
    ///      sampler.run ( @(x) - sum(x.^2)  ... getLogFunc: the natural log of the objective function.
    ///                  , 4                 ... ndim:       the number of dimensions of the objective function.
    ///                  );
    ///      samples = sampler.readSample();
    ///      sample = samples{1};
    ///      tile = pm.vis.TileLine(sample.df);
    ///      tile.make("coly", sample.slfc + 1 : sample.slfc + 4, "colc", "sampleLogFunc");
    ///
    ///  \endcode
    ///
    ///  The mathematical objective function in the above example is a
    ///  is a multivariate Normal distribution centered at the origin,
    ///  whose natural logarithm is returned by the lambda (``Anonymous``)
    ///  function defined as a function handle input to the ParaDRAM sampler.<br>
    ///
    ///  Running this code will generate a set of simulation output files (in the current working directory of MATLAB).<br>
    ///  Among these, the file suffixed with "_report.txt" contains the full description of all input specifications
    ///  of the ParaDRAM simulation as well as other information about the simulation results.<br>
    ///
    ///  Example Usage: Thread-Parallel
    ///  ------------------------------
    ///
    ///  First, ensure the ParaMonte ``+pm`` package (i.e., folder) is available in your MATLAB paths.<br>
    ///
    ///  Threading parallelism is possible as of ParaMonte MATLAB version ``3.0.0``.<br>
    ///  However, only ``singleChain`` ParaDRAM simulations are supported.<br>
    ///
    ///  Here is a MATLAB script ``main.m`` for a thread-parallel ParaDRAM simulation.<br>
    ///  Copy and paste the following code and paste into your MATLAB session:<br>
    ///
    ///  \code{.m}
    ///
    ///      sampler = pm.sampling.Paradram();
    ///      sampler.spec.parallelismNumThread = 0; % use all available threads.
    ///      sampler.run ( @(x) - sum(x.^2)  ... getLogFunc: the natural log of the objective function.
    ///                  , 4                 ... ndim:       the number of dimensions of the objective function.
    ///                  );
    ///      samples = sampler.readSample();
    ///      sample = samples{1};
    ///      sample.vis.tile.line.make();
    ///
    ///  \endcode
    ///
    ///  The statement ``sample.vis.tile.line.make();`` in
    ///  the above is equivalent to the following set of lines:
    ///
    ///  \code{.m}
    ///
    ///      tile = pm.vis.TileLine(sample.df);
    ///      tile.make("coly", sample.slfc + 1 : sample.slfc + 4, "colc", "sampleLogFunc");
    ///
    ///  \endcode
    ///
    ///  The mathematical objective function in the above example is a
    ///  is a multivariate Normal distribution centered at the origin,
    ///  whose natural logarithm is returned by the lambda (``Anonymous``)
    ///  function defined as a function handle input to the ParaDRAM sampler.<br>
    ///
    ///  Running this code will generate a set of simulation output files (in the current working directory of MATLAB).<br>
    ///  Among these, the file suffixed with ``"_report.txt"`` contains the full description of all input specifications
    ///  of the ParaDRAM simulation as well as other information about the simulation results.<br>
    ///
    ///  Specifying ``0`` as the number of threads will lead to using
    ///  all available CPU threads for thread-parallel ParaDRAM simulation.<br>
    ///
    ///  \note
    ///  **Benefits of thread-parallelism**<br>
    ///  Thread-parallel simulations offer a much more flexible
    ///  and easier approach to benefiting from parallelism without
    ///  going through the hassle of MPI-parallel simulations.<br>
    ///  But they can still potentially offer much faster speed than serial simulations.<br>
    ///  The actual speedup depends on a lot of factors.<br>
    ///  Moreover, the number of threads is limited to maximum
    ///  number of physical cores available on your system.<br>
    ///  As such, thread-parallel simulations are not scalable.<br>
    ///  If you need scalability, checkout MPI-parallelism below.<br>
    ///
    ///  Example Usage: MPI-Parallel
    ///  ---------------------------
    ///
    ///  First, ensure the ParaMonte ``+pm`` package (i.e., folder) is available in your MATLAB paths.<br>
    ///
    ///  MPI-parallel simulations can be slightly more cumbersome than thread-parallel simulations
    ///  described above because MPI-parallel simulations cannot be performed from within a MATLAB GUI
    ///  session and require launching MATLAB via a compatible ``mpiexec`` launcher.<br>
    ///
    ///  <ol>
    ///      <li>    Ensure you need and will get a speedup by running the an MPI-parallel simulation.<br>
    ///              Typically, your simulation may then benefit from parallelism only if a single
    ///              evaluation of the objective function takes longer than a few milliseconds.<br>
    ///
    ///      <li>    Ensure the required MPI libraries are installed on your system
    ///              (You can skip this step if you know that you already have
    ///              a compatible MPI library installed on your system).<br>
    ///              On the MATLAB command line type the following,<br>
    ///              \code{.m}
    ///                  pm.lib.verify();
    ///              \endcode
    ///              This will verify the existence of a valid MPI library on your system and,
    ///              if missing, will guide you to install the MPI library on your system.<br>
    ///
    ///      <li>    Once the MPI installation is verified, copy and paste the following
    ///              code into your MATLAB session:
    ///              \code{.m}
    ///
    ///                  fid = fopen("main_mpi.m", "w");
    ///                  sourceCode = ...
    ///                  "sampler = pm.sampling.Paradram();" + newline + ...
    ///                  "%sampler.mpiname = ''; % set this to an explicit MPI library name if needed." + newline + ...
    ///                  "sampler.run( @(x) - sum(x.^2)  ... getLogFunc: the natural log of the objective function." + newline + ...
    ///                  "           , 4                 ... ndim:       the number of dimensions of the objective function" + newline + ...
    ///                  "           );";
    ///                  fprintf(fid, "%s\n", sourceCode);
    ///                  fclose(fid);
    ///
    ///              \endcode
    ///
    ///      <li>    This will generate a ``main_mpi.m`` MATLAB script file in the current working directory of your MATLAB session.<br>
    ///              Now, you can execute this MATLAB script file (``main_mpi.m``) in parallel.<br>
    ///              To do so, you need to call MATLAB on a command-line, **out of MATLAB GUI**.<br>
    ///              <ol>
    ///                  <li>    **On Windows**:<br>
    ///                          From within command prompt that recognizes both MATLAB and ``mpiexec``,
    ///                          ideally, the Intel dedicated command-prompt that is shipped with Intel MPI library,
    ///                          type the following,
    ///                          \code{.m}
    ///
    ///                              mpiexec -localonly -n 3 matlab -batch "main_mpi"
    ///
    ///                          \endcode
    ///
    ///                          \note
    ///                          In the above MPI launcher command for Windows OS,
    ///                          we assumed that you would be using the Intel MPI library, hence,
    ///                          the reason for the extra flag ``-localonly``.<br>
    ///                          This flag runs the parallel code only on one node, but in doing so,
    ///                          it avoids the use of Hydra service and its registration.<br>
    ///                          If you are not on a Windows cluster, (e.g., you are using your personal device),
    ///                          then we recommend specifying this flag.<br>
    ///
    ///                  <li>    **On macOS/Linux**:<br>
    ///                          From within a Bash terminal that recognizes both MATLAB and ``mpiexec``,
    ///                          type the following,
    ///                          \code{.m}
    ///
    ///                              mpiexec -n 3 matlab -batch "main_mpi"
    ///
    ///                          \endcode
    ///
    ///                          \note
    ///                          In both cases in the above, the script ``main_mpi.m`` will run on 3 processors.<br>
    ///                          Feel free to change the number of processors to any number desired.<br>
    ///                          But do not request more than the available number of physical cores on your system.<br>
    ///              </ol>
    ///  </ol>
    ///
    ///  \warning
    ///  Do not add postprocessing codes (such as reading and plotting the output samples) in your MPI-parallel code.<br>
    ///  There is no point in doing so, since MATLAB will run in ``-batch`` mode for parallel simulations, disabling all plotting capabilities.<br>
    ///  Moreover, if you read and postprocess the output files in parallel mode, the task will be done
    ///  by all parallel processes, potentially overwriting external IO activities of each other.<br>
    ///  Only perform the sampling as described above in MPI-parallel mode.<br>
    ///
    ///  ParaDRAM Simulation Specifications
    ///  ----------------------------------
    ///
    ///  The ParaDRAM simulation specifications have lengthy comprehensive descriptions
    ///  that appear in full in the output report files of every ParaDRAM simulation.<br>
    ///
    ///  The best way to learn about individual ParaDRAM simulation attributes
    ///  is to a run a minimal serial simulation as given in the above.<br>
    ///  You can also use the ``sampler.spec.doc()`` method:
    ///
    ///  \code{.m}
    ///      sampler = pm.sampling.Paradram();
    ///      sampler.spec.doc();
    ///  \endcode
    ///
    ///  \final{Paradram}
    ///
    ///  \author
    ///  \AmirShahmoradi, May 16 2016, 9:03 AM, Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES), UT Austin<br>
    ///
    ///      

    The above example documentation snippet will generate an HTML similar to this documentation.
    Note the lack of an empty line among the commands that immediately follow \example.
    This is essential to keep the entire example section in the same paragraph.

ParaMonte MATLAB Language Examples

The ParaMonte MATLAB library ships with hundreds of example usage that are available in the example/matlab folder in the root directory of the project repository.
These examples are also available and discussed in the documentations of individual modules and procedures of this this documentation website.

ParaMonte MATLAB Language Benchmarks

The ParaMonte MATLAB library currently does not ship with any benchmarks.
If you would like to see a relevant benchmark currently not included, discuss it here or raise an issue here for consideration or volunteer to implement it!

ParaMonte MATLAB Documentation Troubleshooting

  1. Side navigation pane disappears in some documentation pages.
    This issue most likely originates from the interference of browser addons with the documentation.
    This issue is mostly observed on Firefox browsers.
    If it occurs, open the page in browser private mode or use other (e.g., chrome-based) browsers.