Matlab's simplicity, efficiency, and computing power make it an excellent programming language for both beginners and top-tier researchers and professionals. It is the language of choice for anything related to numbers and data, including applications in mathematics and statistics, hard and soft sciences, business and finance, automation, modeling, visualization and graphing, simulations, signal and image processing, optimization, and more.

Before starting to learn MATLAB, it's important to have a basic understanding of programming and mathematical concepts. Familiarity with arrays, matrices, basic linear algebra, and calculus will make it much easier to grasp the tool. MATLAB is primarily used for computations, modeling, and data visualization, so having some foundational knowledge in your field, such as engineering, physics, or economics, can be very helpful.