MATLABmat

MATLABmat is a proposed, non-official data interchange format and runtime library intended to enable portable storage and exchange of MATLAB data across programming languages and computing environments. Conceived as a complement to MATLAB's native MAT-file format, MATLABmat aims to provide a language-agnostic representation for MATLAB matrices, arrays, and related data structures, with emphasis on large-scale and distributed workflows.

Its data model uses a hierarchical, node-based structure that can represent numeric arrays (including double, single, and complex numbers), logical arrays, character and string data, cell arrays, and structures. It also provides native support for sparse matrices, metadata, versioning, and endianness control. The format supports compression and streaming, enabling efficient transfer and progressive loading.

Encoding and interoperability: MATLABmat defines a binary wire format and an on-disk container (.mmat, for example) with a version header and integrity checks. It provides language bindings for C, Python, Java, and MATLAB, allowing users to import and export data to and from MATLAB workspaces, and to convert to/from MAT-files or HDF5 representations when needed.

Usage and status: MATLABmat is discussed in academic and community contexts as a potential solution for cross-language data exchange in numerical computing and machine learning pipelines. It is not part of the official MathWorks product line, and adoption varies by project. Its maturity depends on ongoing development and community governance.

See also: MAT-file, MATLAB, HDF5, data interchange formats, interoperability.