function simpleplot(a,b,n)
% This is a simple Matlab routine to plot a function
% on the interval [a,b] using n uniformly spaced
% points.  The function should be called f.m and
% be located in a directory in the Matlab path.
% f.m should accept an input x and give back a value
% y=f(x)
%
% Matlab can plot sets of points with or without lines
% joining the points.  The basic Matlab plotting function
% is plot.m. It accepts as input two arrays of the same
% length, the first array holds the independent variable
% and the second, dependent variable.


% begin the plotting by defining the arrays hold the function information
% We define a set of plot points by taking n+1 equally spaced points
% between a and b. The first and last points align with a and b.

delta = (b-a)/n; %this is the step size between plotting points

% We use a loop to define the plotting points and the corresponding
% function values. 

for i = 1: n+1
   x(i) = a+ delta*(i-1);
   y(i)=f(x(i));
end

% Now call the built-in Matlab plotting function
plot(x,y)

% we define a string that holds the title of the plot
graphof=strcat('Graph of f(x)');
% tell the plot function the name of the plot
title(graphof)
% tell the plot function the name of the horizontal axis
xlabel('x')