Can I open a file made in R2019a with different versions of matlab (R2017b)?

Hello there, I have this situation: the version of matlab that is used in my university is 2017B, but I made my script on my laptop in version 2019a so I need to know if I can work with both versions over one file, since I will have to use matlab at both locations (house and university) in my masters thesis.

Answer 1

[Rik]

This depends on what kind of file you're talking about. mat files and m files are very portable, especially if you leave the defaults as they are. R2020a changed the default encoding to UTF-8, but that doesn't matter if you don't use special characters like é.

Files for Simulink can be fairly tricky, and the mlapp format changed in R2018a. I don't know if that last one matters for you.

Bottom line: if you stick to mat files and to m files without special characters, everything will work from R2006b onward. I don't see big changes to this happening in the foreseeable future. (I don't work for Mathworks and have no inside information on future plans)