title: What is the difference between .m and .mat files in MATLAB
body: <p>When I traced my reference MATLAB script, I found files with the <code>.mat</code> extension. My questions are:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>What is the difference between <code>.mat</code> and <code>.m</code> files?</li>
  <li>How does one open files with the <code>.mat</code> extension?</li>
  </ol>