% -*- texinfo -*-
% @deftypefn {Function File} {@var{s} =} spalloc (@var{r}, @var{c}, @var{nz})
% Returns an empty sparse matrix of size @var{r}-by-@var{c}. As Octave
% resizes sparse matrices at the first opportunity, so that no additional
% space is needed, the argument @var{nz} is ignored. This function is
% provided only for compatibility reasons.
%
% It should be noted that this means that code like
%
% @example
% @group
% k = 5;
% nz = r * k;
% s = spalloc (r, c, nz)
% for j = 1:c
% idx = randperm (r);
% s (:, j) = [zeros(r - k, 1); rand(k, 1)] (idx);
% end
% @end group
% @end example
%
% will reallocate memory at each step. It is therefore vitally important
% that code like this is vectorized as much as possible.
% @seealso{sparse, nzmax}
% @end deftypefn