diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2c353b4..94ae568 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -26,4 +26,4 @@
 *.vrb
 __*
 pointprocesses/lecture/pointprocessscetch*.tex
-
+*.DS_Store
diff --git a/programming/exercises/boolean_logical_indexing.tex b/programming/exercises/boolean_logical_indexing.tex
index c7a22dd..fa75aef 100644
--- a/programming/exercises/boolean_logical_indexing.tex
+++ b/programming/exercises/boolean_logical_indexing.tex
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ lecture. You should try to solve them on your own. Your solution
 should be submitted as a single script (m-file) in the Ilias
 system. Each task should be solved in its own ``cell''. Each cell must
 be executable on its own. The file should be named according to the
-following pattern: ``variables\_datatypes\_\{lastname\}.m''
-(e.g. variables\_datentypes\_mueller.m).
+following pattern: ``boolean\_logical\_indexing\_\{lastname\}.m''
+(e.g. boolean\_logical\_indexing\_mueller.m).
 
 \section{Boolean expressions}
 
diff --git a/programming/exercises/control_flow.tex b/programming/exercises/control_flow.tex
index f6d8de7..29ba300 100644
--- a/programming/exercises/control_flow.tex
+++ b/programming/exercises/control_flow.tex
@@ -18,13 +18,13 @@ lecture. You should try to solve them on your own. Your solution
 should be submitted as a single script (m-file) in the Ilias
 system. Each task should be solved in its own ``cell''. Each cell must
 be executable on its own. The file should be named according to the
-following pattern: ``variables\_datatypes\_\{lastname\}.m''
-(e.g. variables\_datentypes\_mueller.m).
+following pattern: ``control\_flow\_\{lastname\}.m''
+(e.g. control\_flow\_mueller.m).
 
 \begin{questions}
-  \question Implement \code{for} loops in which the  \emph{running variable}:
+  \question Implement \code{for} loops in which the \emph{running variable}:
   \begin{parts}
-    \part ... assumes values from 0 to 10. Print (\code{disp}) the value of the running variable for each iteration step.
+    \part ... assumes values from 0 to 10. Display (\code{disp}) the value of the running variable for each iteration of the loop.
     \begin{solution}
       for i = 1:10 disp(i); end;
     \end{solution}
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ following pattern: ``variables\_datatypes\_\{lastname\}.m''
     \part Create a variable
     \verb+filename = '2015-10-12_100Hz_1.25V.dat'+. Obviously, the
     underscore was used as a delimiter.
-    \part Use a \verb+for+ loop to find the positions of the underscores and store these in a vector.
+    \part Use a \verb+for+ loop to find the positions of the underscores and store these positions in a vector.
     \begin{solution}
       \begin{verbatim}
       positions = [];
diff --git a/programming/exercises/matrices.tex b/programming/exercises/matrices.tex
index 3825486..79b5b4c 100644
--- a/programming/exercises/matrices.tex
+++ b/programming/exercises/matrices.tex
@@ -31,11 +31,11 @@ following pattern:
     \begin{solution}
       \code{x = [7 3 5; 1 8 3; 8 6 4];\\disp(size(x))}
     \end{solution}
-    \part Use the help to figure out how to get only the size along a certain dimension. Display the sizes of each dimension.
+    \part Use the help to figure out how to get only the size along a certain dimension. Display the sizes of each dimension separately.
     \begin{solution}
       \code{disp(size(x, 1))}\\\code{disp(size(x, 2))}
     \end{solution}
-    \part Copy the content at the position 3rd line, 2nd column to a new variable.
+    \part Copy the content at the position 3rd line, 2nd column into a new variable.
     \begin{solution}
       \code{c = x(3, 2)}
     \end{solution}
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ following pattern:
       \code{y = M(:, [2:2:size(M,2)])}
     \end{solution}
 
-    \part Calculate the averages of lines 1, 3, and 5 (use the function \verb+mean+}, see help).
+    \part Calculate the averages of lines 1, 3, and 5 (use the function \verb+mean+, see help).
     \begin{solution}
       \code{mean(M([1 3 5],:), 2)}
     \end{solution}
diff --git a/programming/exercises/plotsinewave.m b/programming/exercises/plotsinewave.m
index f2960da..25667a3 100644
--- a/programming/exercises/plotsinewave.m
+++ b/programming/exercises/plotsinewave.m
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@ function plotsinewave(time, sine)
 % plot precomputed sinewave
 % time: vector with timepoints
 % sine: corresponding vector with sinewave 
-if time(end)-time(1) <= 1.0
-	plot(1000.0*time, sine);
+if time(end) - time(1) <= 1.0
+	plot(1000.0 * time, sine);
 	xlabel('Time [ms]');
 else
 	plot(time, sine);
 	xlabel('Time [s]');
 end
-ylim([1.2*min(sine) 1.2*max(sine)]);
+ylim([1.2 * min(sine) 1.2 * max(sine)]);
 ylabel('Sinewave');
diff --git a/programming/exercises/scripts_functions.tex b/programming/exercises/scripts_functions.tex
index d02c5c9..f5fbf50 100644
--- a/programming/exercises/scripts_functions.tex
+++ b/programming/exercises/scripts_functions.tex
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ to the pattern: ``scripts\_functions\_\{surname\}.zip''.
   \begin{parts}
     \part{}
     Version 1: Write a script that calculates the factorial of 5 and
-    prints out the result.
+    displays the result on the command line.
     \begin{solution}
       \lstinputlisting{factorialscripta.m}
     \end{solution}
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ to the pattern: ``scripts\_functions\_\{surname\}.zip''.
 
     \part{}
     Version 3: like version 2, but the calculated result should not be
-    printed on the command line but returned by the function. Write a
-    script that calls the function and prints out the result.
+    displayed on the command line but returned by the function. Write a
+    script that calls the function, accepts the returned value and then displays the result.
     \begin{solution}
       \lstinputlisting{myfactorial.m}
       \lstinputlisting{factorialscriptc.m}
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ to the pattern: ``scripts\_functions\_\{surname\}.zip''.
 
     \part{}
     Write a script that calls the function and controls the
-    plotting. Change the function in a way that it returns a proper
+    plotting. Change the function in a way that it returns 
     time-axis and the calculated sinwave.
     \begin{solution}
       \lstinputlisting{sinewave.m}
@@ -103,10 +103,11 @@ to the pattern: ``scripts\_functions\_\{surname\}.zip''.
 
   \begin{parts}
     \part{}
-    Read the exercise completely before starting the implementation
-    and then come up with a proper program layout of scripts and
-    functions. What would be a suitable function to solve the task? Which
-    arguments should it take? Which results should it return?
+    Read the exercise instructions completely before you start
+    implementing a solution. Analyze the requirements and then come up with a
+    program layout of scripts and functions. What would be a
+    suitable function to solve the core task? Which arguments should it
+    take? Which results should it return?
     \begin{solution}
       One function that computes one realisation of a random walk.
       Scripts for plotting and analysis.
diff --git a/programming/lecture/programming-chapter.tex b/programming/lecture/programming-chapter.tex
index 2a76f64..941c688 100644
--- a/programming/lecture/programming-chapter.tex
+++ b/programming/lecture/programming-chapter.tex
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 \section{TODO}
 \begin{itemize}
 \item Ausgabeformat: \varcode{format} ?
-\item Expliziter die \varcode{(a:b:c)} Notation einf\"uhren!
+\item Expliziter die \varcode{(a:b:c)} Notation einf\"uhren! Done!
 \item Mathematische Funktionen sin(), cos(), exp()
 \item Rundungsfunktionen round(), floor(), ceil()
 \item Zeitvektoren, deltat, Umrechnung Zeit und Index.
diff --git a/programming/lecture/programming.tex b/programming/lecture/programming.tex
index b657d6b..b75cc0d 100644
--- a/programming/lecture/programming.tex
+++ b/programming/lecture/programming.tex
@@ -174,11 +174,12 @@ As mentioned above, the data type associated with a variable defines how the sto
   part.
 \item \enterm{logical}: Boolean values that can be evaluated to
   \code{true} or \code{false}.
-\item \enterm{character}: ASCII characters.
+\item \enterm{character}: Unicode characters.
+\item \enterm{string}: Strings of unicode characters, i.e. text. 
 \end{itemize}
 There is a variety of numeric data types that require different
 amounts of memory and have different ranges of values that can be
-represented (table~\ref{dtypestab}).
+represented (table~\ref{dtypestab}). There are also more advanced data types which will not be used in this chapter but see box~\ref{box:advanced_dtypes} and box about strings \ref{box:strings}.
 
 \begin{table}[t]
   \centering
@@ -360,8 +361,8 @@ number of elements irrespective of the type of vector.
 Listings~\ref{vectorelementslisting} and~\ref{vectorrangelisting} show
 how the index is used to access elements of a vector. One can access
 individual values by providing a single index or use the
-\code[Operator!Matrix!:]{:} notation to access multiple values with a
-single command.
+\code[Operator!Matrix!:]{:} operator to access multiple values with a
+single command (see also the info box below \ref{important:colon_operator}).
 
 \begin{pagelisting}[label=vectorelementslisting, caption={Access to individual elements of a vector.}]
 >> a = (11:20)   % generate a vector
@@ -401,13 +402,14 @@ ans =
 \end{exercise}
 
 \begin{important}[The : (colon) operator]
-  The colon \code[Operator!colon@:]{:} operator is often used when working with vectors. It has multiple purposes.\vspace{-1ex}
+  \label{important:colon_operator}
+  The colon \code[Operator!colon@:]{:} operator is often used when working with vectors. It has multiple purposes.
   \begin{enumerate}
-    \item In the simplest form, \code{x = a:b} with \code{a} and \code{b} being two numbers, it generates
-  a vector \code{x} containing the numbers \code{a} to \code{b} inclusively in integer steps.
-    \item In the form \code{x = a:c:b} the vector \code{x} uses a \emph{stepsize} of \code{c} to generate the range of numbers.
-    \item As vectors are often used for indexing in other vectors one use the colon operator to create such vectors implicitely, e.g. \varcode{x(1:2:end)} to access every seond element of \code{x}. 
-    \item Indexing with a single colon, e.g. \code{x(:)}, returns all elements of the vector \code{x} as a row vector.
+    \item In the simplest form,  \code{x = a:b} with \code{a} and \code{b} being two numbers, it creates 
+  a vector \code{x} containing the numbers \code{a} to \code{b} in integer steps. In \matlab{} the borders $a$ and $b$ are included $[a, b]$ or $a\leq x \leq b$.
+    \item In the form \code{x = a:c:b} the vector \code{x} uses a \emph{stepsize} of \code{c} to create the range of numbers ranging from $a$ to $b$ in steps of $c$.
+    \item When used in the context of indexing such as \code{x(:)} all elements of the vector x are accessed.
+    \item Vectors are often used for indexing in other vectors. To do so the colon operator is used to create such vectors implicitely, e.g. \varcode{x(1:2:end)} to access every second element of \code{x}. 
   \end{enumerate}  
 \end{important}
 
@@ -1148,7 +1150,7 @@ segment of data of a certain time span (the stimulus was on,
   \end{itemize}\vspace{-1ex}
 \end{exercise}
 
-\begin{ibox}[ht]{\label{advancedtypesbox}Advanced data types}
+\begin{ibox}[!ht]{\label{advancedtypesbox}Advanced data types}
   Thoughout this script and the exercises we will limit ourselves to
   the basic data types introduced above (int, double, char, scalars,
   vectors, matrices and strings). There are, however, \matlab{}-
@@ -1204,6 +1206,50 @@ ans =
 
 \end{ibox}
 
+\begin{ibox}[!ht]{\label{box:string_dtype}The \enterm[string]{string} data type}
+    With release 2017a \matlab{} introduced the string data type which offers more convenience for handling text. A string scalar is created using double quotes: \varcode{s = "Hello world!";}.
+    The string object \varcode{s} now offers several methods to work on the stored information. Some of the most commonly used methods are listed below. Refer to the documentation for complete descriptions.
+    \begin{enumerate}
+        \item \varcode{append} -- appends another string to the string and returns the new string. As with the other functions the original is not affected.\vspace{-0.5em}
+        \item \varcode{contains} -- searches the string for the occurence of a another string, which is passed as an argument. Returns a logical that is true if the pattern was found.\vspace{-0.5em} 
+        \item \varcode{split} -- splits the string into substrings. By default a blank is used as delimiter. You can pass any other string as an argument to spilt the string at each occurence of the passed pattern. Returns a vector of substrings.\vspace{-0.5em}
+        \item \varcode{join} --  The opposite of spilt. \varcode{join} takes a vector of strings and concatenates them to a single string. By default a blank is used as delimiter.\vspace{-0.5em}
+        \item \varcode{lower} -- returns a version of the string in which all characters are lower case. This is particularly useful when one compares user input or string arguments in a function in an case insensitive way.\vspace{-0.5em}
+        \item \varcode{upper} -- as above but all characters are converted to upper case.        
+    \end{enumerate} 
+    \paragraph{Example:}
+    A dataset is recorded on a specific recording date using an experimental subject and applying certain stimulus conditions. The recorded data should be stored in a file that contains this information separated by undersores.
+
+    \begin{lstlisting}[basicstyle=\ttfamily\scriptsize, caption={Using \varcode{join} to combine strings.}, label=usingjoin]
+date = "2020-12-24";
+subject = "subjectA";
+condition = "control";
+file_extension = ".dat";
+
+filename = join([date, subject, condition], "_");
+filename = filename.append(file_extension)
+        
+disp(filename)
+
+ans = 
+     "2020-12-24_subjectA_control.dat"
+    \end{lstlisting}
+
+    When reading the dataset during the analysis, we may want to extract the stimulus condtion or the subject name.
+    
+    \begin{lstlisting}[basicstyle=\ttfamily\scriptsize, caption={Using \varcode{split} to cut a string at a delimiter.}, label=usingsplit]
+disp(filename)
+ans = 
+    "2020-12-24_subjectA_control.dat"
+    
+filename = filename.erase(".dat");  % remove file extension
+string_parts = filename.split("_");  % split at the underscore
+% string_parts is a vector of the substrings
+date = string_parts(1);
+subject = string_parts(2);
+condition = string_parts(3);
+    \end{lstlisting}
+\end{ibox}
 \section{Control flow}\label{controlstructsec}
 
 Generally, a program is executed line by line from top to
@@ -1696,6 +1742,36 @@ function plotFunction(x_data, y_data, name)
 end
 \end{pagelisting}
 
+\begin{ibox}[!ht]{\label{box:sprintf}\enterm[Format strings]{Formatted strings} with \mcode{sprintf}.}
+    We can use \varcode{disp} to dispaly the content of a variable on the command line. But how can we embed variable contents nicely into a text and store it in a variable or show it on the command line? \varcode{sprintf} is the standard function to achieve this. We introduce only a fraction of its real might here. For a more complete description visit the \matlab{} help or e.g. \url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printf_format_string}. 
+    
+    Consider the following code:
+    \begin{lstlisting}[commentstyle=\color{black}, basicstyle=\ttfamily\scriptsize, caption={Using sprintf.}]
+n = 100;
+numbers = randn(n, 1);
+    
+sprintf("Drawing %i random numbers yields an average of %.3f and a standard deviation of %.3f.", n, mean(numbers), std(numbers))
+
+ans = 
+    "Drawing 100 random numbers yields an average of -0.121 and a standard deviation of 0.921."
+
+    \end{lstlisting}
+    \varcode{sprintf} takes a variable number of arguments. The first one is the string that contains placehoders for the variable content. Here we used three placehoders (two different types, \varcode{\%i, \%.2f}). Accordingly, \varcode{sprintf} expects three additional arguments (\varcode{n, mean(numbers), std(numbers)}). These are the content we want to show in the text. The function will try to convert the variable content and format is according to the placehoder type:
+
+   \footnotesize
+   \begin{tabular}{l||p{4cm}|p{7.5cm}}
+     type & purpose & example \\ \hline \hline
+    \%i & integer values & \varcode{sprintf("I drew \%i numbers", 100)}\\ \hline
+    \%s & string values & \varcode{name = "John Doe";} \varcode{sprintf("My name is \%s", name)}\\ \hline
+    \%f & double values, accepts width and precision arguments & \varcode{sprintf("Number pi is \%.2f", pi)}\\ \hline
+    \%g & double values, uses exponential style when appropriate& \varcode{sprintf("Large int \%g", 1000000)}
+    \end{tabular}
+   \normalsize
+
+    Simplified, the placehoder has the form \varcode{\%[width][.precision]type}. Square brackets indicates optional parameters. \varcode{width} controls the total number of characters used for the content. \varcode{.precision} controls how many of the total characters may de devoted to the positions after the decimal point. The example above (\varcode{\%.2f}) limits the output of the $\pi$ to 2 positions after the decimal point.
+
+    Many programming languages offer versions of \varcode{sprintf} that work essentially in the same way.
+\end{ibox}
 
 \paragraph{III. One script to rule them all}
 
@@ -1721,7 +1797,7 @@ Again, we need to specify what needs to be done:
 
 The implementation is shown in listing~\ref{sinesskriptlisting}.
 
-\begin{pagelisting}[caption={Control script for the plotting of sine waves.},label=sinesskriptlisting]
+\begin{pagelisting}[caption={Control script for the plotting of sine waves. Note the use of \varcode{sprintf} in the function call in line 11. This function creates a so called formatted string based on the passed string which contains placeholders for variables. For some more details see~\ref{box:sprintf}.},label=sinesskriptlisting]
 amplitudes = 0.25:0.25:1.25;
 frequency = 2.0;
 duration = 10.0;  % seconds
@@ -1732,7 +1808,7 @@ hold on
 for i = 1:length(amplitudes)
   [x_data, y_data] = sinewave(frequency, amplitudes(i), ... 
                               duration, stepsize);
-  plotFunction(x_data, y_data, sprintf('freq: %5.2f, ampl: %5.2f',...
+  plotFunction(x_data, y_data, sprintf("freq: %5.2f, ampl: %5.2f",...
                                        frequency, amplitudes(i)))
 end
 hold off