Within Julia, use the package manager:

Pkg.add("MAT")

See also the requirements for the HDF5 module, used for "v7.3" files and for writing *.mat files.

To load the module:

using MAT

To read a single variable from a MAT file:

file = matopen("matfile.mat")
read(file, "varname")
close(file)

To write a variable to a MAT file:

file = matopen("matfile.mat", "w")
write(file, "varname", variable)
close(file)

To read all variables from a MAT file as a Dict:

vars = matread("matfile.mat")

To write a Dict to a MAT file, using its keys as variable names:

matwrite("matfile.mat", {
	"myvar1" => 0
	"myvar2" => 1
})

• All files are written in MATLAB v7.3 format.
• MATLAB v4 files are not currently supported.

The MAT_HDF5 module, which provides read/write support for MATLAB v7.3 files, was written primarily by Tim Holy. The MAT_v5 module, which provides read support for MATLAB v5/v6/v7 files, was written primarily by Simon Kornblith.